It's taking Harris' negative value deal that makes it hard. I agree you could value Hampton over Nesmith---but the rest of the package from Celtics is still pretty clearly superior.
Exactly. Gary Harris has been pretty widely viewed as a negative asset. He seems to be getting worse and is always dealing with injuries. He’s also making 20 million a year and is not an expiring. Maybe if he was viewed as some sort of locker room leader I could understand it more but (from what I’ve read) he’s a pretty quiet guy so it’s not that. I think Thompson is, almost unequivocally, a better asset than Harris
Hampton and Nesmith are basically the same. I could understand the Magic liking Hampton more but I doubt it would be a situation where they liked him MUCH more.
The pick is in 2025 and has protections...it’s likely to be in the late 20s.
Unless the Magic have some very odd talent evaluations, it does seem like the Celtics may have turned their attention to another player in the last 24 hours....or they were never offering a 1st round pick in the first place (which I doubt)
EDIT: Just thought of another thing that makes this package even weirder/more undesirable to the Magic. They just had a chance to take Hampton in this draft...but instead chose Cole Anthony, who plays the exact same position as RJ Hampton. They also have Markelle Fultz locked up, who is almost a carbon copy of RJ Hampton. (Worse shooter but Hampton is a pretty bad shooter himself)
