I was really let down with taking Keegan at 4 and not trading down for him, but after settling down a bit we’re getting a player who’s gonna be good for 10+ years and will be an instant starter.
Adding Keon Ellis as a two-way player is a really good pickup as well, very good upside there if he can add some size.
Trade down how? Do we know what was available? Could we have traded below 5 and be sure we would get him? If no, what was the package that was acceptable to pick someone we thought would be a lower tier player? We have no clue.
Even in the supposed trade with Detroit, what were they offering? We know they were ready to offload Grant, but for what? And how were we going to absorb him? We didn't have a 21 million trade exception lying around. We would have had to send back salary, or make it a 3-4 teams trade, something they might not have been interested in. There are just too many unknowns, and I think it's unfair to blame Monte for being lazy. If Keegan was the target, and there was no viable trade that provided a certainty of picking him, or a package that made picking another player worthwhile, this was the correct approach.
I do believe that if we had picked Ivey, there would have been a lot of pressure not only on Monte, but also on Brown, Ivey, Davion, TD, and DDV, and maybe even Fox. Teams would know that we will be forced to offload at least one major piece, and we would never get commensurate value, all while having a lopsided roster, and starting Harkless, or forcing someone to play out of position.