Just 2 days before the trade deadline, as many as 38 second-round picks were included in the trade package, and 44 from the beginning of this season, which is much more than in previous years. The way of use is even different. Some teams dropped 4-5 teams in one breath just to acquire a player. The Bucks paid 5 teams to the Nets because of Jae Crowder, and the Eagles also used 5 teams to grab the Pistons. Saddiq Bey , the Lakers Thomas Bryant also made the Nuggets willing to pull out 3.
The NBA trading day is over! The Suns received Kevin Durant shockingly, and with a first-round pick and Russell Westbrook, the Lakers surprised D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and other players, making them a big dark horse in the second half of the season! However, excluding player changes, another trend that cannot be ignored is the massive trade boom of “second-round draft picks”.
Two days before the trade deadline, as many as 38 second-round picks were included in the trade package, and 44 from the beginning of this season. The number is even more than in previous years, and the way of use is also different. Many teams snapped up 4-5 teams to snap up a player, the Bucks paid 5 to the Nets for Jae Crowder, the Eagles also paid 5 to Saddiq Bey who grabbed the Pistons, and the Lakers Thomas Bryant also made the Nuggets willing to pay 3 .
Draft picks are heavily used in trades. We have seen signs from the preseason. Previously, the focus was mainly on first-round and heavyweight stars. The Eagles spent 3 first-round picks to buy Dejounte Murray, and the Timberwolves bought Rudy Gobert with 4 first-round picks. Now this upsurge continues down to the second round of picks, and the target is changed to high-quality green leaves or young potential stocks. Why did the second-round pick start to become a bargaining chip used frequently and in large quantities? The reason may be very simple. When the star bid is changed to the first-round pick, the teams have already sold all of them, or they will choose to hoard, observe the situation and wait for an opportunity, aiming at the next star at the same level as Kevin Durant to enter the trading market. And according to NBA regulations, a team cannot trade first-round picks for two consecutive years, and the second round is relatively unlimited, so it is easy to become a practical bargaining chip.
It is worth sacrificing the future! Will “one first-round pick” be a fair price for NBA stars?
Going back to the essence of the transaction, what buyers are looking for is “upgrade”, not just “reinforcement” that complements each other. It is best not to trade a player with a combat power of 1 for a player with a combat power of 2 or higher. detract from any combat power. The above-mentioned Bucks, Eagles, and Lakers did not hand over players of the same level, but Serge Ibaka, George Hill, Kendrick Nunn and others other than the core rotation were regarded as the salary balance package in the transaction, and a large number of second-rounders Sign as an entree to get the seller to agree to the deal. The new club that takes over these players will not regard them as reinforcements, and would rather wait for the contract to expire or buy them out directly.
Accumulating second-round picks is by no means to increase the chances of “digging treasures”. Even if Nikola Jokic, Khris Middleton, Manu Ginobili or Jalen Brunson are all selected in the second round, compared with the first round in terms of talent and risk, it is necessary to obtain high returns Expectations are still very, very low, not to mention that many teams don’t reserve space for rookies at all, and they can train 1-2 rookies in the NBA at most, which is considered good. More will directly sign two-way contracts with second-round rookies and put them in the G League for long-term training.
The more valuable uses of the second-round lottery may be handling fees and compensation. As the saying goes, it is easy to do things with money, so they can replace cash to ask for assistance. The Knicks signed Brunson in order to clear space before the season, and sent Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks to the Pistons. They did not get any players back. Instead, they added 2 second-round picks and 6 million cash as a handling fee. The Thunder are even better at this move. They have a lot of salary space in the rebuilding stage, and they continue to earn draft picks by collecting contracts from other teams, such as Dario Saric, JaMychal Green, and even more expensive Derrick Favors, Kemba Walker, and Al Horford. Let them get the first round.
Draft picks can also be used for pick swaps. In 2018, the Lone Ranger used an extra first-round pick to buy the third pick from the Eagles and selected the current young master Luka Dončić. In the second half of the pick, it is also common for the team to use the second-round pick as a bargaining chip to improve the pick. In the last draft, the Timberwolves wanted to select Wendell Moore Jr., so they gave the Rockets two second-round picks to exchange picks. As a compensation for combat power or a long-term contract, the second-round pick can also play a role. In addition to sending away Josh Richardson, the Spurs also accepted Devonte’ Graham for the Pelicans, earning four second-round picks in one go. The Grizzlies upgraded Danny Green to a younger Luke Kennard with three second-round picks.
Foreign media《SBNation》Put forward an interesting description, thinking that this wave of trading second-round picks is like the NBA version of “virtual currency”. The team still does not understand the value of these picks. Send it to the G-League, or simply sell it for gold. Big city teams use this to get the players they want, and small city teams have a second-round pick… what do they do? Will they choose to refuse to accept these packages following finding that the second round of lottery is of little value, and instead ask for other chips? This question may have to wait for a while to find out.
