Admittedly, that trade seemed good on paper at first. There were talks of them challenging Miami that year. Even I hated that trade when it happened. Hopefully the pick isnt squandered this season.
Agree. I think this point hasn't been emphasized enough. This is THE single best asset of the deal. I've used this term before: it's the crown jewel of the Pierce/Garnett deal. We loved those guys, but we gave them up for these picks. Despite what may look like another bad season for Brooklyn next year, there's no guarantee of it. What is a guarantee, is that the 2014 pick was already a waste, and the 2016 pick is #3.
We cannot afford to waste this pick. It's like the post LarBrd (I think?) made: how would we feel if we didn't have the nets picks? Lots of people said they wouldn't be nearly as optimistic about the team, that we would be a treadmill team. If this pick doesn't hit, aren't we essentially in that situation?