This is where I completely disagree.
Every decision you make, as an organization, has a ripple effect. We took a guy like Ochai, at a position where there is an abundance of interchangeable players and passed on someone at a scarcer position,
with the combination of size and production that screamed he would be a quality NBA player.
When you are then turning around that summer and trading for another player, at the same position you just spent a lottery pick on, you are basically cutting out your own knees in those trade talks. You have no leverage nor do you really have a desire to try to hang on to that asset as it, by human nature, feels like a sunk cost.
So you make a potentially poor choice with who you selected and then that poor choice gets compounded because you are turning around and letting that redundant piece go, without really digging your heels in. You have Danny Ainge on the other end of the phone, talking about how Ochai is expendable with Mitchell coming in, not a lot of minutes for a 4th guard and what exactly is your thought as a GM? Human nature is probably cutting your losses and including him right?
It is just like in fantasy football......if you are receiving a position in a trade, it is a lot easier to let go of that same one. It is just the human aspect of negotiation. We are far more willing to give in on the same asset classes but the decision(s) become a lot harder if you have invested in an asset class that is far more difficult to acquire. That isn't to say you give up on the Mitchell deal....just that as a GM, you are spending a lot more time getting creative, involving another team, trading other pieces for picks, or even just telling the other guy he's not getting "X" player.
It is the exact reason Danny is such a great GM when it comes to executing trades. He wins these trades because he is constantly leveraging the human nature that is involved in these same asset class pieces. Go look at a lot of his deals, he is always acquiring players at the same positions he is giving up because it is a really easy way to extract additional value from someone.
The Ochai thing is what it is........but I'm personally just exhausted at our front office continually doing next to nothing to address it and then acting like there's not a whole lot they can do at every turn.
Saying one non small forward can reach higher than another non small forward isn't doing a lot for me right now Keys.
Let's just all pray that Emoni miraculously turns in to something, as that is the one thing that might be able to save our front office from itself.
