Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

I agree with your line of questioning on this particular subject cause it looks like a bit of backtrack without stating so. 

However, a specific pick on draft day is a lot more valuable than it would be outside the draft. What I mean to say is picks on draft day are a bit more valuable than the garden variety first outside of knowing the placement. So the Lively, #12 line of questioning is harder to pin down in an outside the draft day scenario. I have a hard time believing other teams would have picked Lively as high as 15, let alone 12 or 10.

Good feedback.  Ya, it's not accounting.  It's fuzzier than that, but I guarantee every front office has a method to value their assets to an approximation.

This is why I look at each player's historical cost differently than current value.  Like any asset you try to get the most value out of the smallest cost possible.

IMO Lively is the perfect example of getting the most value out of the smallest cost...
Cost: Tanking - Bertans + $22.1m/4yrs
Value: #12 pick

OMax is another great example...
Cost: Holmes' $24.8m/2yrs + $13.7m/4yrs
Value: Whatever Value Holmes Provides + #24 pick