A Mad Men guide to the 2018-19 NBA Season
“It wasn’t a lie. It was ineptitude with insufficient cover.” — Dallas Mavericks and Atlanta Hawks
Following the Atlanta / Dallas draft night trade of Luka Doncic for Trae Young and a top-five protected first round pick, Hawks GM Travis Schlenk had this to say about the deal:
"Two of our goals in the next few years here are to accumulate as many assets as we can and to get as much talent as we can…Luka’s a heck of a player, we’d be happy with him, Trae’s a heck of a player. Obviously, we’re excited to have him, and when the opportunity came to pick up a first-round pick from the Mavericks, it just kinda made sense to accomplish both goals with one move."
Much has been made of the fact that, with his picks in this draft, Schlenk was beginning to lay the foundation for a team that played in the style of the one he used to work for, and that Trae Young was his Steph Curry. The irony in such a notion is palpable.
Imagine, for a moment, that the Golden State Warriors were on the clock nine years ago and a team just below them – the Knicks or Raptors, let’s say — offered them their own pick and an indeterminate number of future unprotected first rounders to swap. How many would have made the deal worthwhile? Five? Ten? Twenty?
There is no right answer because in the NBA, more than any other sport, you do not pass on transcendent talent. When you have the opportunity to draft a player who has a chance to enter the pantheon, you do so and you do not ask questions.
Curry, of course, was no safe bet to make it five years in the league, let alone revolutionize the league. If he was, five teams wouldn’t have passed on him (including Minnesota, twice. Ha.) Luka Doncic, similarly, is no sure thing. He lacks elite athleticism and will be a liability on defense (sound familiar?)
That’s all well and good. Dallas hasn’t stopped smiling at the absurdity of their good fortune since they made the swap. They are officially back on the NBA map.
Hopefully, they sent Schlenk a thank you card.