(02-11-2022, 12:32 AM)Kammrath Wrote: Thinking we fans know the value of ANY player in the NBA is really hubris. Sure, we all had guesses on what KP's value was, but NONE of us actually knew.
Many of us just felt strongly that whatever the value was, you get what you can and move on.
1) I don't think for one second the Mavs got (significantly) less value for KP than they could have. Nico certainly looked at all the possible offers and took the one he thought best. If KP had real value there would have been a bidding war between teams.
2) When the interest from WAS came up last year I was one who was on board with a KP for Bertans swap, but I wanted Avdija instead of Dinwiddie. And that was long before I really realized how terrible his value was.
KP's value was really easy to spot, even for neophytes. Look at the contract, look the availability, watch him play, asses the impact when he does play and when he doesn't. It all added up a terrible contract for a player who didn't impact games when he did play and often didn't play. It's why all the fantasy trades, while fun, were little more than pipe dreams. It's why it was so strange to see people protest when suggesting he had no value and trying to recapture some of the spilt milk from the initial trade which still isn't paid off.
1) I don't think the Mavs passed on a better deal. I also don't have confidence that they were able to explore every possible avenue. Years of mismanagement and bad relationships with the rest of the league aren't wiped away because you replaced Donnie with Nico. In the end they swapped two of the worst contracts in the league and took on another bad salary because they wanted "shooting" and "shot creation". It's spin. I get why they made the trade. I get why they are spinning it. You can talk yourself into them being more versatile and I'll not even argue much, but they aren't better either.
2) Cool? It doesn't change the fact that even at Bertans best, that contract is an albatross.
It's all kind of beside the point. It's more about perception, reality and acceptance. MBT2.0 have a lot of digging out to do. I'm just prepping myself for how they'll squander their pick this year.