DRAFT: #18 [Green] & #31 [Terry] & trade for #36 [Tyler Bey]

[cjeter24]

I´m not sure which teams you see collecting assets and playing winning basketball. I give you the Nuggets by taking a gamble on Porter Jr. - could have gone the other way and they sunk a first.

Celtics have been doing it for years. Ainge is stealing value and draft picks from anyone that is still willing to trade with him. It started with the KG/Pierce trade. He robbed the Nets, Mavs, Hornets and many more. This year they can use three additional 1st round picks to add talent to a core that just made the ECFs.

And they've also wasted a crap ton of assets by consistently missing on all these extra picks and not hitting at a high enough rate.

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@"Scott41theMavs" I love your heart. 

Personally, I think it's pretty much impossible for the Mavs to reach true contender status before Luka's rookie max extension even happens. Has ANYONE ever done that? 

He's clearly good enough to ensure that the team will reach contender status in the future. There's no doubt about that. 

I don't see it happening for a few years though, unless a third transformative deal is made, like signing Giannis, or something else on that level. If the process ends up being organic, I still believe they'll get there, but my goodness, they are FAR away from being as good as some of these other teams, imo.

KL I would be inclined to agree with you. But look at the Lakers roster. They have 2 of the best players in the world no doubt. But other than Kuzma there's nothing special there that you can't find at any given time in free agency or trade. And that's not to say Kuzma is all that special but young good player on cheap rookie contract isn't super easy to get.

That patchworked that team together behind their stars. The point is that we have 2 great stars too. Yeah the Lakers are better. Our stars are going to continue to improve. And with a much better rest of roster than the Lakers, I think you can make up the gap between your two stars. 

That also is why I think the Lakers are going to be a one time champion with their current roster here. Other teams will improve their rosters to help close that gap and Lakers won't have hardly any ammo to counter. 

I wouldn't say sell out to try and win now. But being aggressive and opportunistic I think is the play.