Hypothetical 2012 Trade Deadline: Is Draymond Green Worth Three Years of RJ?

[Chinook]

There is a flawed assumption behind this whole thread: that the Spurs would have used the #30 on Green if they kept the pick. Nothing could be further from the truth, and all you have to do is examine his role in the 2016 Finals loss to see why. He's an out of control punk who thrives on not being guarded as the 5th option in a lethal lineup.

No. That's is not an "assumption" of this thread. That is the locked-into scenario created by the hypothetical. The same way that Jefferson not being traded or amnestied for the three years was even though he very likely would've been moved at some point. You're correct that the Spurs could've totally drafted someone else. Maybe Ezeli, maybe Crowder or Barton or maybe a stash like Kostas ( , maybe they talk LJC into entering the draft so they could stash in a year early). But that is not the hypothetical. It's not "Was this trade good or bad?" It's "Would this particular scenario be more favorable than the status quo?"

[Spurtacular]

You don't really understand the NBA at all, do you? There are trades that are not about player value, but money. Spurs saved almost exactly $11M on that trade, for a very late first rounder.

Someone already more/less made this reply w/o being an asswipe and I said okay, cool. Check it. I understand the various parameters. This part of the deal had not been presented in the OP.

[exstatic]

Someone already more/less made this reply w/o being an asswipe....

They must not have posted to ST for very long.

[Spurtacular]

They must not have posted to ST for very long.

The Spurs didn't trade a first to get Jax. They traded a first for cap flexibility. 1 offseason of Jax for 2 offseasons of Jefferson.

Not having RJ also probably helped provide more cash in resigning Danny, who was not a full Bird FA yet.

I didn't press him on the numbers. I got the point. The OP should've included the numbers, frankly (if he knew of em), imo. Though, that's not a criticism if he wasn't aware. Go with what you got. It's a message board; I'm fine with people filling in the details.

[Chinook]

I didn't press him on the numbers. I got the point. The OP should've included the numbers, frankly (if he knew of em), imo. Though, that's not a criticism if he wasn't aware. Go with what you got. It's a message board; I'm fine with people filling in the details.

Trading RJ for Jack didn't save the Spurs money in 2012-2013, so no, it didn't help in re-signing Green. The Spurs had a good cap in 2013-2014, so the saved cash wasn't as big of a deal as people make it out to be. Obviously, though, that is in hindsight. Had Pop known that he was about to stumble into the players he needed to complete this championship puzzle through giving time to guys on min contracts and a post-lotto pick, he might've played the whole Jack/RJ thing a bit differently