I dont think its just specific to this roster, when we made the KG/PP deal he was adamantly against that because of the uncertainty of draft picks as well. But if anyone really thinks this roster is ready to contend with just 1 star added to it (not named Lebron) then a disagreement over the risk associated with draft picks is the least of our problems
I must note that I raised the issue of 3 picks for Okafor as a question, not a strident demand. Perhaps he is not worth it. Even better, perhaps he could be gotten for less (i.e;' one NJ pick and 3 Boston picks)
The point of the proposal is that it is, just possibly, feasible. I just don't see any other team with worthwhile assets -- players that would help (especially on the offensive end ) fairly soon -- that are deep in tank mode. Except maybe Cousins, and his downside can't be ignored.
The real disagreement is whether or not the Celts are in GFIN mode; where "now" could be realized this or next year.
* GFIN mode: Score a valuable asset (perhaps overpaying) this year, and with the resulting "50+" win team attract a free agent next year .
And maybe get lucky with one of the slew of protected first round picks; and assume that that olynk/bradley/smart/sullinger continue to improve.
* Not yet GFIN mode: Build via the draft: hold on to the picks and hope you get lucky.
That means you are almost certainly going to be building a new team around these picks (since they are likely to be impact players in 3 to 5 years).
Which is the better approach? It's not an easy call, but I favor the former.
Why: I definitely like (and I am not alone in this) watching a team that has a shot of winning on any given night. I also like homegrown talent, and players who are bit underdoggy (Hello Tom Brady, Hello Steph Curry).
If that means a possible reduction in odds of winning it all (and how big this "some reduction" is --- we beat to death in the past), that's okay by me.
BTW: as for my sentimental reluctance to trade KG and PP --- well, for PP the sentiment was true, it would of been nice to have him retire as a celtics (and the Wizards version of him
would be VERY useful on this celtics team)! Also... the Nets went from big spenders to a keep-it-below-the-cap team. Is that correlated with drops in oil price/ ukraine sanctions -- which could
of effected the fortunes of Prokhorov (see
https://beta.finance.yahoo.com/news/mikhail-prokhorov-just-invested-another-220022777.html) ?
Does Ainge have that kind of geopolitical savvy?