re: Demps - Asking AD to Move Mountains

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This x1000. Building a roster based solely on young veterans on mid to upper range deals and wholly neglecting drafting and player development means you have to hit. You have to be right on almost every major move because there is no flexibility without players on cheap rookie contracts stepping up or being available to acquire more assets/move your misses.

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Not to mention those guys you trade for, at least in the big deals like Jrue, Evans and Asik, they cost more then just money. You are acquiring them because you are projecting them to be better then their own teams are valuing them(who have had lots of time with them) and the rest of the league. So you end up giving up extra assets no one else in the market would of.

If you are wrong you just paid a higher price then anyone and will not ever recuperate the totality of what you gave up. And since they are 23-26 year olds, the market value drops because those teams that didn't value them as high now have their reservations somewhat confirmed and even more deeply question if those players ceiling is any higher then it currently is. We see that with Gordon and Asik and I suspect we will see it with Evans too.

We can play the injury game all we want but Demps made those moves expecting Evans to be the next Manu Ginoboli or James Harden. Jrue to be an elite PG in this league. Asik to be an elite defensive center with just enough offense to get by. Gordon to be the next great guard. And in all cases expected that at a minimum he would be able to recoup close to equal value if he missed on his projections. He was wrong.

He over-projected on every one of those guys(though Jrue might still prove his worth) and the result is a fairly inflexible roster with few silver linings.