The point is that when your counterparty has painted themselves into a corner with public statements about wanting your thing, and setting expectations that they will indeed come home with that thing, you have leverage. Doubly so when your ask is something that is years away and won't come home to roost with the people who are making decisions today. And that's the exact dynamic that took the Billy King deal from a big win to a legendary pantsing. And as we know from
stories in the years afterwards, it was Wyc driving that bus - Danny was prepared to accept 2 firsts, and Wyc told him to go back for more multiple times, that he sensed Billy King had "deal fever" and couldn't walk away, and was right. And Wyc is still around today.
Marks / Tsai can't agree to something crazy like Claxton, but I say ask for the 2028 pick-swap rights. Or even the PHI top-8 protected first in 2027. What does Sean Marks care about that? That's 5-6 years from now. He has a Durant who needs satiating
today.
Is that guy in a pickup trying to compete with you, and this appliance helps him? Is this appliance one that has recently unlocked a lot of professional success for you, with the promise of lots more? Does that appliance happen to know a lot about how you make your money, and can (will) tell its new owner things that could impact that? C'mon, this is a garbage analogy, both literally and figuratively.
Ime has net asset value, as evidenced by the fact that a popular and star-studded NBA franchise decided they wanted him to coach for them after considering zero alternatives and doing zero due diligence. If it weren't for the circumstances around his suspension, and he had merely (say) demanded a trade to Brooklyn prior to the season, the asking price would've been multiple firsts - the guy just led his team to the NBA Finals in his rookie season. Should the circumstances of his suspension reduce the price? Yes. Is the resulting fair price for what is clearly a hot asset
ZERO? No.
Brooklyn can indeed say "okay we'll hire someone else", but there's a nonzero cost to them for doing so. Clearly either Durant or Marks has decided that Ime is what will fix this franchise, as evidenced by the fact that Shams and Woj are all over the reporting on it. We can conclude that Udoka is the only choice even considered acceptable by 1 of 3 people - Durant, Marks or Tsai - and second place is the coaching equivalent of a set of steak knives. What are the odds they walk away over a distant-future pick swap?