It's not insignificant, but surely a matter of some weight in high-end negotiations. It's not a real con in the reality for most of the NBA ownership, but it is part of the negotiation reality that it exists. No one really knows how to trade these kinds of contracts, or even the real trade market value of them. I suppose it'll be a difficult question to answer until the first brick falls.
Of course we're going to try to trade up. I don't think we will, even the stupid teams seem to be valuing this draft very high. But hey, you never know. With Morey, you just gotta show up and see what happens.
This is a deep draft, but still, even with a top 15 pick (No team is giving us Wiggins, sorry) it takes several years to develop a rookie. We are in WIN NOW while the guys are still young and healthy mode. No team with cap space will take on Asik or Lin this season or next season. Every team with cap room is going after Carmelo, Love, Bosh, etc.
There are no teams with 'stupid' people running them. There's a natural spectrum of perceived abilities of management of all 30 teams, though.
I disagree look at Philly for example. They know Melo etc is not going to sign on to one of the worst teams in the league but Hinkie would take Asik and maybe Lin for nothing or for a pick or sweetener like DMo. There are likely other teams that are in a similar situation where FAs are not likely to sign even with cap space. Bucks, Raptors, Jazz, Hawks, Bobcats, etc. In Houston we like to think we are not a premier FA destination but there a lot more teams who have it even worse and would gladly take Asik in a salary dump.
Asik is easily unloaded. But the Rockets would not get back equal value for him. The Rockets are in win now mode and having Asik backing up Howard next season probably means about 4 wins. Many more if Howard goes down with an injury. Lin however is problematic. To package Lin to another team would probably take Jones and/or the 2014 first round pick. Decent point guards are a dime a dozen. Starting quality centers, especially a top 7 center like Asik, are very rare and very expensive.
Teams in contention want to keep their core, or maybe trade for a vet. They aren't usually interested in trading to move up, unless it's for a very high pick.
The team in the drivers seat this draft? Phoenix by far. They have I believe four first round picks. In the best draft in a decade. I don't know who is the GM of the Suns, but that is one very smart man.
Stupid is relative. I am sure most NBA GMs probably would do well on an IQ test but that doesn't stop them from mismanaging their teams into the ground.
Yea sure , lets trade up when a record breaking teams have worked so hard to tank this year. You know damn well that their asking price is going to be steep. Teams with lottery picks will only trade with other lotto picks to trade up or down a couple of spots. We're better of trading our pick away.
Any chance we trade up for Josh Smith's (now) bad contract and swap picks (maybe the expiring contracts of Asik and Lin?)
Unless you're talking just 2-3 spots, trading up is one of the most expensive and risky things you can do as an NBA GM. And as LosPollosHermanos said, the teams that spent all year tanking likely have zero plans to trade their picks, except possibly with each other. My guess is the only way to get into the top 3 would be to trade Harden or Howard, and even then, some of those teams would rather pick the 19yr to rally huge excitement in their fanbase.
Trading up in the draft is a lot harder than it's made out to be. With a potentially top-loaded draft class I don't see anything significant happening for the Rockets in particular. If Daryl Morey wants your draft pick you should probably hang up the phone and reevaluate who you're looking at.
Look at the big picture. We'll either use it in a package if a third star becomes available, or we'll trade it for a future 2nd. I doubt they keep a guaranteed rookie contract on the books, fitting in a 3rd near max deal is hard enough as is.
Going to be impossible to trade up in this draft without having a boatload of picks a la Phoenix. Teams have tanked and this is a deep class. The only way we trade up is if some team in the 14-18 range thinks they're a piece away and don't like anyone left on the board. But, I doubt we'd have anything they'd want that would be fair value for a middling pick.
They didn't get any '14 draft picks from that trade. They got 1 from Minnesota (chance they don't get it), 1 from the Wizards, and another from the Pacers.
Yeah, but they got a 2015 first rounder from the Lakers with only top-5 protection. That could end up being a VERY nice pick.
