All these scenarios are so unrealistic. Spurs aren't getting any of these hypothetical players.
Marc Gasol might be the only somewhat realistic option but even that is a long shot. I think he signs an extension with MEM next year after they sign Pau Gasol to play alongside with him this summer.
The first pick in the draft is worth a lot more than Leonard and Splitter or Green.
Splitter's value (with his current contract) isn't very high. Leonard, while valuble, is nowhere near 1st pick worthy. That's supposed to net you a superstar for low cost. You couldn't pry that off Gilbert with anything we have. I mean Parker and a throw in would be worth it but they already have Irving.
Does anyone still doubt that the Spurs could trade for the first-overall pick if they wanted to?
Well "Still" is a mis-leading word. When the thread was started, no chance. With the injury, possibly.
Why not?
I heard rumors that they tried to trade Timmy for the 2007 number 1 pick which could have acquired Greg Oden.
Nothing misleading about it. Embiid's injury and Kawhi's fMVP performance makes it even more obvious.
Thought you were trying to imply that pre-injury you felt the Spurs had a reasonable shot.
I did. But now, I imagine most agree.
Interesting.
Not me, your points are rational, but I wouldn't do it if I were the GM.
we need to get Ender Wiggins
I wouldn't do it.
What? Kawhi is a proven talent. You know he is a top end defender that can guard the best player in the NBA and you know he has a high level offense. You have no idea if Wiggins will ever be a go to player or if Parker's game will translate to the pros. You take a young Leonard all day over an unknown quan y.
i agree on Splitter, but only slightly. There are a handful of bigs in the NBA that can do what he does. He may not be worth an overall number one, but he's definitely got top 8 value. You have to remember that half of the lottery picks don't amount to anything in the NBA. How many players in last year's lottery would you take over Splitter. Probably none.
This guy already said it all.
Here's the problem: Whoever trades for these players has to pay for them. . .and pay a lot more than they would for a rookie who has the very likely potential he will be better than Leonard. Look at the top 1-3 picks of just about every draft lately. Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Unibrow, John Wall, etc.
Combine the fact that you barely have to pay for those players for years, and their value is a LOT higher. It isn't just the potential, which is greater.
As for last year's draft, it was notoriously poor and was expected to be weak going in. This one is the opposite.
The Cavs will not throw away their pick for a costly role player(s) and a guy who while good, has never made an all star team.
Anthony Bennett, Derrick Williams, Evan Turner, Michael Beasley, etc.
Trade a 22yo all-star for a wild card who's only a couple years younger at best and will take at least 2 years to develop? Nah.
Don't think about this from the Spurs' angle. That's not the point of the thread. Rather we're talking about whether the Spurs have the value to swing a trade for the first-overall pick if they want to. I think yes (and thought so last month). In fact, I think the Spurs should turn down any offer Cleveland gives.
That's not a problem, since Bennett and Varejao would be going out. The trade would be cash-neutral. Also, teams should want expensive role-players when those players have proven to be worth the money. Both Green and Splitter would start along with Leonard and whomever the Cavs would use at PF. So the trade would set up 3/5 of their SL with players who know what it takes to win and who are among the best in the league in their crafts, while also being relatively young and still having room to grow. And then of course, Leonard.
I'm very confident that Green/Leonard/Splitter will hold better value over the next four years than first pick/Bennett/Varejao. I would not do that trade if I were the Spurs. If the Cavs were to laugh off the deal, they'd probably end up regretting it.
Oh, well in that case, yes. Especially considering the injury to one of the top 3 picks. I always considered this draft class one of great role players. I see Wiggins turning out to be a good all-around player, Parker to turn out to be a scorer, and Embiid to be a good big man, but not the second coming of the Dream. In that light, I see KL have good value to another GM. But yes, the trade won't happen at all. KL is a Spur for at least the next extension.
Low risk high reward that's cheap vs high risk medium reward that costs more.
That's what this hypothetical deal is. It's less of a risk and would not receive any backlash for making the pick instead of trading it. Imagine if they trade it and the top pick ends up being the next Hakeem. It would be heralded as the worst trade in NBA history.
It was Kawhi and Splitter or Green, not all three, but yeah.
I don't think Kawhi/Green/Splitter will hold more value anyway. Kawhi, as much as we all love him, is clearly not #1 pick quality under the terms we understand it (superstar). Splitter isn't any better than Varejao. But yeah I'd much rather have Green than Bennett right now. Definitely.
No, it was all three. It was my proposal that even brought Danny and Tiago into this current part of the thread. Maybe I had a typo, but the intention was the three Spurs for the three Cavs.
I think we understand the value of the first-overall pick differently. I don't think of it as being a superstar, since it's usually not. I think the odds are good that whomever the Cavs draft will be worse than Leonard over the course of their careers. That's just the way or happens. Proven players are hard to find, especially 22-year-old fMVPs who play at a position of need. If Wiggins/Parker had Kawhi's career through three years, they will be worth their draft status.
Splitter's way better than Varejao, especially next to a PF like Thompson. Tiago is one of the top five all-round defensive bigs in the league. Anderson's health is even worse than Splitter's was when he first came into the league.
This and the Cavs are on record for saying that like to trade the pick for an established player. They want to start winning, not contue to be below average while they wait and hope their talent developed.
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