All very nice.
And still the fact is there was no fleecing, or anything remotely like a fleecing. Its all speculation and risk assessment. Its well within possibility that in the end Philly ends up with a bunch of junk long off its roster, and a #22 pick in 2019, while we end up with 3 second round picks, Koufos (or something we trade him for), and a pick we turned into Malachi.
And Vlade made a move that should be 100% standard. You go all in to save the the superstar you have. The young superstar at that. Like in many things in life, if you play not to lose, you aren't going to win. Vlade's not going to lose a bleeping thing in that Philly deal, in fact has gained numerous young players now off of it, UNLESS DeMarcus leaves. And since the point of the deal was to try to put together a team to keep DeMarcus from leaving, it wasn't random or not attached. You have the #1 center in the entire league on your team. The 4th leading score in the NBA. So you make a move to save him. And if the move works out, you give up exactly jack and squat. That's hardly a fleecing. Its a calculation. A calculated gamble. And one that in many ways puts Philadelphia in the passive loser's seat, because they have absolutely no control of how it is going to play out. Vlade has control. Cousins has control. Philadelphia was making a blind bet. Vlade made a bet on his ability and his guy.
And still the fact is there was no fleecing, or anything remotely like a fleecing. Its all speculation and risk assessment. Its well within possibility that in the end Philly ends up with a bunch of junk long off its roster, and a #22 pick in 2019, while we end up with 3 second round picks, Koufos (or something we trade him for), and a pick we turned into Malachi.
And Vlade made a move that should be 100% standard. You go all in to save the the superstar you have. The young superstar at that. Like in many things in life, if you play not to lose, you aren't going to win. Vlade's not going to lose a bleeping thing in that Philly deal, in fact has gained numerous young players now off of it, UNLESS DeMarcus leaves. And since the point of the deal was to try to put together a team to keep DeMarcus from leaving, it wasn't random or not attached. You have the #1 center in the entire league on your team. The 4th leading score in the NBA. So you make a move to save him. And if the move works out, you give up exactly jack and squat. That's hardly a fleecing. Its a calculation. A calculated gamble. And one that in many ways puts Philadelphia in the passive loser's seat, because they have absolutely no control of how it is going to play out. Vlade has control. Cousins has control. Philadelphia was making a blind bet. Vlade made a bet on his ability and his guy.