Well, basically because I heard we got Dalembert and was mildly excited. Then I heard we moved Hawes and there was a huge smile on my face. That's not a "wait and see" trade for me, that's a home run. But then I never liked Hawes. I saw him play in Washington that one year and already didn't like him as a player. And we won't really have a chance to miss him regardless, even if he pulls a Gerald Wallace and makes an All Star team down the road, because the guy we replaced him with is going to be a top 5 center in the league long before that ever happens.
Or put another way, you could say that having to give up Hawes to get Dalembert means giving up a valuable asset and young centers who can play are always an asset in this league. But I don't think Hawes represented an asset on our roster and I don't think he will in Philadelphia either. Do not want.
Being able to get DMC and Whiteside (fingers crossed that Whiteside hangs on and becomes a valuable member of the team) in the draft means that having Dalembert on a one year deal doesn't matter; we'll likely be done with him after this season anyways. But let's say we
weren't able to draft two seven footers, we'd have had a problem in the middle. Of course, that was the case even with Hawes, but at least we had something. Whether we liked him or not, whether he was a part of our plans or not, Hawes was an asset, and this trade is proof of that. Brought us a shotblocker and future cap space. (Also made damn certain that we never hear a certain awful nickname on this board again.)
I'm not calling it a "wait and see" trade. I'm just saying that, with Spencer being 22 years old, there's still a chance that he could turn into a really good player. If he does, I'll be happy for him, but I won't be mad because we made out ahead with that trade, and were able to draft the best big man in the draft. I wasn't mad about the Gerald Wallace thing, either, because I don't think he would have ever become a good player for the Kings, not with Adelman coaching, and not with Petrie building the team around Miller, Peja and Bibby. Wallace was in the wrong place here, I think. I'm happy for him, but not mad that we let him go.
Also, even if DMC is a top 5 center, the deal wasn't Hawes for DMC. It was Hawes for Dalembert, and if Hawes averaged 16/10 for the next seven years, while Dalembert is hopping around the league, it will be worth a look over our shoulder to say "maybe Philly got the better end of that deal". For what we wanted/needed, we made out just fine. But Hawes could still turn out to be a player, and that would change things a bit.