· Western conference is brutal, so a 2015 first from Dallas could be in the low to mid 20's, sure, but if any of Dirk, Chandler, Ellis, or Rondo go down with an injury it's possible the Mavs could slip out of the playoff picture and then it's a lottery pick.
· Conversely, a 2018 first sounds real tempting if you picture the Mavs rebuilding, but that's a lot of time for a team to get lucky in the draft, and Cuban has a lot of money. That pick could be higher than the 2015 pick.
· Rondo's value is not what it used to be, he's older, he's had a major injury, his already subpar shooting has regressed this year, and he's a free agent so whoever trades for him is probably only renting him. I love Rondo. But us fans have to lower our expectations.
· Brandan Wright is a major sleeper. He's been playing this well consistently for years on a per minute basis. Give him starter's minutes and he could give you 15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, and a steal, with way above average efficiency. Not just a player for this year, which would be a tankfest, naturally, so who cares how productive he is this year for us. But if you sign him in the offseason using Bird Rights to come over the top of any other rival offer, which would still probably be a low-ish salary, and then if you let him put up really good numbers, then you have a really valuable commodity, especially if the contract winds up looking like a bargain, while he's still only 28 years old, and with reduced mileage on his body so a young 28. By really good numbers, I mean a PER of 20+, which he's been doing in each of the last four seasons, in limited but substantial minutes. I don't trust PER, but that track record is kind of astonishing. This year it's 26. And he protects the rim. Don't the C's need a rim protector?
· If Ainge can get Knight plus a 2015 first plus a 2017 first? Be thrilled. If he gets an even better offer and bypasses the Mavs, be ecstatic, because that would mean we're getting absolute max return for Rondo's current value. Knight and two firsts would be pretty close to that, anyway.