If it was just one future pick, I wouldn't be so worried. But now we owe 2 future first round picks to different teams AND rights to swap in 2 different drafts. So we don't have control over our own picks and no longer can use them to pick up talent at say, the trade deadline. Our assets right now bare to none.
Pure and simple, we've got to start winning now. Future picks a few years down the road mean far less than the ability to improve this roster with vets this offseason. If we turn into a playoff team, those picks mean far less.
Sometimes you have to give up value to receive value and in giving up those picks/rights to them, on top of dumping salary, we just created an avenue to seriously improve this team right now. Do that going into the new arena, centered around the best big in the game and we've created a situation where FAs want to come here. Screw it up and we've got a number of issues.
But as a small market we have to take a risk. It was play it safe and maybe take a small step forward or take on risk and look for a big step forward. We chose the latter. How it plays out we'll have to see but as of now we haven't gotten "raped". To create the opportunity we had to take on risk. Now we wait and see what we do with the opportunity.