Insight into the inner workings of a team's approach to trade deadline

From a former insider in the Blazers' front office featuring the Gerald Wallace trade: https://cleaningtheglass.com/deadline-dynamics/

This is absolutely terrific.

 

Very good piece. We need to get "Lucky" again then because the way we are going about it is smack dab in the middle of NBA purgatory.

 

Thank God for Billy King.

What a brutal evaluation 3 months before the draft.

Missed out on Dame/Beal/Drummond/Draymond

 

If Harkless had been getting playing time he might be that "Gerald Wallace" we need to make a good trade. But we effectively tanked any value he would have had...way to go, Terry.

 

Dude, Harkless earned that benching with his shit play. Crash was at least playing hard in 2011-12. If Moe at least tried a little bit early in the year, we wouldn't be desperately trying to get another wing.

If you think about it, maybe they've built enough value in Aminu now?

 

I hope so. That guy is dumb as a rock on the court.

 

Oooh, I'd totally forgotten about Aminu! Yes - hopefully he's our Wallace! Actually, they are kinda similar.
I don't deny Harkless earned his benching, but given Turner's play Harkless didn't deserve to be shelved. Ditto Vonleh.

 

I admit to thinking Davis was overrated -- I referred to him as a very rich man's Marcus Camby -- but putting TRob and MKG in the top-3?! I wouldn't have gone anywhere near either of them in the lottery, and would have taken a long look at a lot of other prospects before even selecting them in the 1st round.

(Some of that may be revisionist memory at work; maybe I said back then that I'd be okay with them at the Meyers pick. But I saw nothing in either player that so many here and elsewhere raved about.)

As for Drummond, pretty much everyone here was suffering from the memory of the ghost of Oden of Christmases past and was sure he was a bust. I think I'm the only one who pegged him as the third best player of the draft (behind Davis and Lillard). People thought it was laughable that he'd even be a starter on opening night. So, King can't really be faulted for not valuing Drummond highly, when hardly anyone else did, either.

 

There were some very troubling signs with Drummond. Stuff like not knowing basic big man plays, comparing himself to Durant in the way he played, not understanding play books. There were a lot of red flags knowledge and drive wise with Drummond.

 

But didn’t everybody on a few of those guys? It’s always so easy to back and look at things.

 

The top 5 picks are pretty hilarious (outside of AD and Beal)

#2 MKG
#3 Beal
#4 Waiters
#5 TRob

Beal's biggest issue is his health. Last year was the first time he actually came close to playing all 82 games. For a guy who's mostly a shooter, he's not very durable.

 

I always liked Nets

 

or Billy Jean King.

 

Knicks could use Meyers.....would suck for him to face the Garden crowd night after night though...brutal

 

Wasn't the biggest reason why Drummond fell in the draft due to motor/weight concerns?
That's what I remember.

 

And yet, if you ignore those things (which I never heard about), he's practically a physical clone of Oden, i.e., a once-in-a-generation athletic freak. Oden had just as many red flags, and some of the same ones. Drummond's stock plummeted 100% because of Oden's failures, IMO.

Much like Eric Gordon. Beal is looking easily the best of those #2-5 picks, in hindsight.

Bingo on the motor. I don't remember any weight issues, but everyone questioned his motivation and how the UConn team underperformed so badly with him there.

 

I said it at the time, Drummond just reeked of that “not getting paid yet so don’t really wanna hurt myself or try too hard”. I kinda thought he would step it up a notch.

 

Meanwhile, the current workings of our team's approach to the trade deadline