I'm new to your work but this is one of the best pieces I've read all year. The Athletic should hire you - I'm not even a Pelicans fan and I couldn't stop reading this.
Great job on this. Fair and measured without pulling punches. I have no doubt the mean girls and stat nerds around NBA front offices had a good chortle when Dumars + Weaver were hired. They don't even have Ivy League economics degrees! But the dog pile on this trade has been over the top. To state your point another way, if you think Queen would have been a top-5 pick coming out in next year's draft, then what's the rumpus? You took your lottery swing a year early. There's so much focus on process in the post-Money ball era it almost recalls the old joke about scientists: "sure it works in real life, but how does it work in theory?" The unabashed certitude of these guys, with their statistical models and analytical break outs, is amazing. Show at least a little humility because nobody knows nothing all they way. Or, with a nod to "Fast" Eddie Felson in the Hustler, percentage players die broke too.
Lol maybe it's because over the long run, it's been proven that good process leads to good results. Short term results can be lucky but sustainable results are about process. Ask the spurs.
Ask the 76ers. They famously fetishized "process" and ended up in basketball purgatory. Was it bad process or bad luck? Probably some of both. Embiid was known to have injury problems, but they deemed him worth the risk. Wrong call?Their best swing came with Maxey, but how much of that was just good fortune given where they drafted him? The Pels were a 50-win team plowed under by injuries the next season. Now everyone assumes they suck. Do they? I'm not sure and that's the point. There is a high degree of randomness to success, no sure path. Men make plans. God laughs.
To be real honest, it's foolish to say how much the Pels value Queen, or how good Queen is. If Queen is going to be the best NBA player ever it's still a bad trade. An awful asset management. If you trades the No. 1 pick for the No. 60th pick straight up that won't make it a good deal if the 60th selection becomes a better overall player when it's all said and done...
Why’s it so hard for the pelicans to be normal?? Okay ownership is bad/cheap/doesn’t care. But that doesn’t explain why people from other teams join the pelicans and seemingly forget how to be competent 😭
I'm new to your work but this is one of the best pieces I've read all year. The Athletic should hire you - I'm not even a Pelicans fan and I couldn't stop reading this.
This is some brutal reporting, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible.
Great job on this. Fair and measured without pulling punches. I have no doubt the mean girls and stat nerds around NBA front offices had a good chortle when Dumars + Weaver were hired. They don't even have Ivy League economics degrees! But the dog pile on this trade has been over the top. To state your point another way, if you think Queen would have been a top-5 pick coming out in next year's draft, then what's the rumpus? You took your lottery swing a year early. There's so much focus on process in the post-Money ball era it almost recalls the old joke about scientists: "sure it works in real life, but how does it work in theory?" The unabashed certitude of these guys, with their statistical models and analytical break outs, is amazing. Show at least a little humility because nobody knows nothing all they way. Or, with a nod to "Fast" Eddie Felson in the Hustler, percentage players die broke too.
Lol maybe it's because over the long run, it's been proven that good process leads to good results. Short term results can be lucky but sustainable results are about process. Ask the spurs.
Ask the 76ers. They famously fetishized "process" and ended up in basketball purgatory. Was it bad process or bad luck? Probably some of both. Embiid was known to have injury problems, but they deemed him worth the risk. Wrong call?Their best swing came with Maxey, but how much of that was just good fortune given where they drafted him? The Pels were a 50-win team plowed under by injuries the next season. Now everyone assumes they suck. Do they? I'm not sure and that's the point. There is a high degree of randomness to success, no sure path. Men make plans. God laughs.
To be real honest, it's foolish to say how much the Pels value Queen, or how good Queen is. If Queen is going to be the best NBA player ever it's still a bad trade. An awful asset management. If you trades the No. 1 pick for the No. 60th pick straight up that won't make it a good deal if the 60th selection becomes a better overall player when it's all said and done...
great take! all we can do is hope it works out...
Why’s it so hard for the pelicans to be normal?? Okay ownership is bad/cheap/doesn’t care. But that doesn’t explain why people from other teams join the pelicans and seemingly forget how to be competent 😭