Ping Pong Luck: If not the Celtics...

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Zach Lowe’s recap pieces on the actually ping pong ball drawing is always a fun read for stuff like this:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26743404/what-happened-wildest-nba-lottery-ever-seen
Fun read. Thanks for posting.

We've talked about it before, but I find it amusing that Lowe still talks about the "laughably lopsided" Sixers Kings trade. Here's the final tally: for taking on Stauskas, Thompson, and Landry, PHI got a 2020 top-20 protected Thunder first-round pick, a 2019 Magic second-round pick, and Jonathon Simmons.

Plus, SAC avoided making a franchise altering mistake by drafting Fultz and was able to draft Fox instead.

Not saying that it was a great trade but it certainly didn't end up "laughably lopsided".
 

lovegtm

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Fun read. Thanks for posting.

We've talked about it before, but I find it amusing that Lowe still talks about the "laughably lopsided" Sixers Kings trade. Here's the final tally: for taking on Stauskas, Thompson, and Landry, PHI got a 2020 top-20 protected Thunder first-round pick, a 2019 Magic second-round pick, and Jonathon Simmons.

Plus, SAC avoided making a franchise altering mistake by drafting Fultz and was able to draft Fox instead.

Not saying that it was a great trade but it certainly didn't end up "laughably lopsided".
You have to judge the deal with how it was when it was made. It was one of the dumbest trades in NBA history. The Kings subsequently got lucky in that everything related to the trade broke their way, from being forced to draft Fox, to conveying the 2019 pick at about as low a spot as possible.

It would be a good trade if the Kings had had some awesome evaluation of Rajon Rondo and he turned out to be an All-Star for them. As it is, everyone expected their cap-clearing moves to be dumb beyond belief, and they were. Ping-pong balls, a solid Cousins trade, and DeAaron Fox being really good saved Vlade's ass here.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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You have to judge the deal with how it was when it was made. It was one of the dumbest trades in NBA history. The Kings subsequently got lucky in that everything related to the trade broke their way, from being forced to draft Fox, to conveying the 2019 pick at about as low a spot as possible.

It would be a good trade if the Kings had had some awesome evaluation of Rajon Rondo and he turned out to be an All-Star for them. As it is, everyone expected their cap-clearing moves to be dumb beyond belief, and they were. Ping-pong balls, a solid Cousins trade, and DeAaron Fox being really good saved Vlade's ass here.
People may judge trades by when it happened, but at the end of the day, people write about them about what actually happened.

I'm certainly not saying it was a good trade but when writing about it, if I'm Lowe, I'm adding something about the outcome.
 

bowiac

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Beal was the best player on a 32 win Eastern conference team that also had a number of other credible NBA talents (Ariza, Porter, Satoransky, Wall, Thomas Bryant, Markieff Morris, etc...). I think he's about appropriately rated.
 

j-man

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If Kyrie leaves, what would it take to convince Memphis to trade us the #2 pick? Obviously they’d want the rights to their pick back, but would that along with #14, #20, #22 and a sign and traded Rozier be anywhere close? If they aren’t sold on Ja, maybe they’d think about it? They’d then get out of purgatory and be able to go full rebuild.
i wouild take that deal or hoford to mem for conley memphis does need to re-build fully but if i owned Memphis i wouild do anything possible to get in the eastern conf so they wouild have a bettler playoff shot michael jordan is all about saveing $$$$ if charlotte goes to the western conf he will make more money for home games
 

Jimbodandy

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There isn't an argument to be made that it's a one man draft. The question marks surrounding the other two guys are no more pressing than the ones surrounding Zion. It's just that Zion's come together with a hyperathletic 6'6" 270lb frame. Morant's biggest issue is the frame, but the shoulders are plenty wide enough to carry another 25-35lbs. Barrett's biggest issue is that he's a streaky shooter, but with that length and athleticism, you can live with him working on the jumper.

To be brutally frank, there's a non-zero chance that Kevin Porter Jr. ends up the best player from this pool, and that's not a knock on the other three, it's just that KPJ is absurdly skilled with the athleticism to make it hurt (for the other team). Now his biggest question mark is a real one, the Ricky Davis knucklehead factor. But if he gets his head on straight? He's a potential MVP candidate.
I honestly dont get the KPJ love. He's a lottery ticket. Morant and Barrett look great. Of course who knows who of the non Zion guys stands out eventually, and perception is largely that it's a 3 man draft. But Zion is the only sure thing. My point is that having the fourth pick, as a trade asset, is not very meaningful.
 

nighthob

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Porter can finish with either hand, has size, strength, and quickness, and knows how to use it to create separation. He can shoot from distance, his handle is good enough to create space when he pulls up in the midrange. It’s basically like watching a young James Harden.
 

nighthob

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I honestly dont get the KPJ love. He's a lottery ticket. Morant and Barrett look great. Of course who knows who of the non Zion guys stands out eventually, and perception is largely that it's a 3 man draft. But Zion is the only sure thing.
Zion isn’t a sure thing either. He’s a 6’6” PF that struggles with his jumper. Unless we’re discussing marketing. He’s a sure thing to sell corporate partnerships, that’s for sure.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Zion isn’t a sure thing either. He’s a 6’6” PF that struggles with his jumper. Unless we’re discussing marketing. He’s a sure thing to sell corporate partnerships, that’s for sure.
I'm also not convinced that Zion will be the best player out of this class and certainly favor him never reaching the levels that some project him to climb. One positive that few have talked about is that once you throw out his 3-18 3-pt shooting in Nov/Dec he finished the year post-Jan 1 at 21-53 for a healthy 39.6% behind the arc.
 

Jimbodandy

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There's nothing wrong with Zion's shot. He did whatever he wanted in college against top competition. Sure a few guys will probably pass him in pure hoop skills, but he's going to dump a fairly efficient 20 for years in this league and contribute on defense as well. It takes a certain myopia to dwell on his unusual shape and assume that the dominant physicality won't carry forward again.
 

nighthob

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I'm also not convinced that Zion will be the best player out of this class and certainly favor him never reaching the levels that some project him to climb. One positive that few have talked about is that once you throw out his 3-18 3-pt shooting in Nov/Dec he finished the year post-Jan 1 at 21-53 for a healthy 39.6% behind the arc.
I think he’s going to be a perennial all star to be sure, I’m just exasperated by the people who’re obsessed with the blemishes on Barrett and Morant, while ignoring the warts on Zion because of his girth.
 

chilidawg

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Porter can finish with either hand, has size, strength, and quickness, and knows how to use it to create separation. He can shoot from distance, his handle is good enough to create space when he pulls up in the midrange. It’s basically like watching a young James Harden.
Without any record of actual basketball success.

Don't get me wrong, I'd look seriously at him at 14 if he's there. But JBD is right, there's no denying he's a lottery ticket.
 

nighthob

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Well, yes, he’s a lottery ticket because he is definitively crazy enough to have gotten kicked off of the USC basketball team. It’s not his game that makes him a lottery ticket, it’s the space between his ears.