Thursday is the NBA draft. You may or may not have known this, based on both your geography and relative interest in the sport. The draft isn’t for casual fans, those who enjoy the sport on occasion or perhaps when the games matter most – like the playoffs. The draft, for the NBA or any other sport, is for people who care how the sausage is made. It’s like people who watch CSPAN to see the party whip in action before a vote.
The NBA draft is perhaps the most intense of all these kinds of sports drafts, for obvious reasons. Unlike most sports, a single star player can make a huge difference for a basketball team. If you end up drafting the next LeBron James or Steph Curry, your team will be demonstratively better. If you end up with the next Greg Oden, not so much. NBA rosters are small, so each player takes up considerable space. And even though talent acquisition is an inexact science, it’s still extremely likely that franchise players will come from the top of the first round – including of course the coveted first overall pick. That’s where LeBron, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaq, and a long list of all-stars were picked. It’s also where the Clippers picked Michael Olowokandi from Pacific University, so there’s that. But, at least some years, picking first in the NBA draft gives your team its most legitimate shot at picking a destiny-altering athlete, one that changes the course of your team’s foreseeable future.
The Philadelphia 76ers want that shot. So they traded their considerably good number three overall pick for Boston’s number one overall pick, a pick they acquired from the Nets in one of the worst trades in sports history that didn’t involve Hershel Walker. With that pick, the Sixers will likely select Markelle Fultz, a point guard from Washington who’s supposedly this year’s can’t miss pick. Now mind you, Washington won nine games last year – the only year Fultz spent in college. So if you’re expecting him to carry a miserable NBA team to the promise land, or even just the playoffs on his own, you may want to inquire why he couldn’t overcome Yale, who the Huskies lost to last year. Now Fultz won’t have to do it on his own, since Philly has had six first round picks in the past three years, including last year’s number one pick Ben Simmons. This is part of the NBA operations now, where teams purposely hit rock bottom so they can rebuild. The Sixers didn’t just hit rock bottom. They took up residence there. But now, stockpiled with young talent, they fully believe that one more rock star – in this case, a hot shot point guard from Washington – will put their elevator in high gear. So for them, it was worth giving up their number three pick and another number one pick down the line.
On the other side, Boston finds itself playing the futures market – something they’ve done quite well in recent years. Not counting this year, the Celtics have like eight first round picks over the next four years. And I’m saying “like” because there’s more caveats than the tax code. They’ve used other teams’ urgencies to build a more lasting future. Perhaps that’s paid off, since they finished second in the Eastern Conference this year and obviously can add considerable talent in the future – starting with this year’s number three pick. Which, as many recall, is where Michael Jordan and Kevin McHale and James Harden were selected. It’s also where Darius Miles was picked 2000. So who knows.
I’m not a basketball expert, so I can’t evaluate the relative talent of Markelle Fultz vs. whomever the Celtics do pick number three. I still argue that Hakeem Olajuwon was a better pick than Jordan in 1984, so I have literally no credibility here. But, as for draft philosophy, I’d say this.
This process, which is now an event, is different things to different people. To some – I assume coaches and GMs – it’s a way to get better fast. And cheaply, at least relative to some high priced free agent that probably doesn’t want to play for your awful team anyway. To other, say the fans, it’s a way to buy hope, which is way more exciting than results, unless you win the whole thing. In fact, the only thing fun about finishing second is that you might win next year. So, this year, both the Sixers and the Celtics have traded for just that – hope. For the Sixers, it’s next year. And let’s face it, their fans have waited long enough. For Boston, it’s for the next decade, by which point they’ll probably own the whole first round.
Which means, who got the better of this trade? The answer, is both of them. Because they both got the only thing you can sell to your fans. And let’s face it, Golden State is going to win for the next century anyway, when Steph Curry will still look like his 18. So enjoy Thursday, Philly and Boston. For the short time being, you’re both winners.
Keith Strudler is the director of the Marist College Center for Sports Communication and an associate professor of communication. You can follow him on twitter at @KeithStrudler
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