[Senator Clay Davis]

Interesting reading the reactions on here, cause the general social media consensus is the Raps won this trade. Feels like the notion of "low firsts" is misguided by the perception that the NBA is still what it was in 2006. We now routinely see mid to late first round picks turn into meaningful NBA players. Superstars? Not very often, but the Raps were never getting a superstar for Siakam on an expiring. They have a superstar, or at least superstar adjacent player in Barnes, so filling in around him with young quality is a good thing.

The only issue, I guess, is they didn't take this route last year. Siakam & OG with a year left are worth more, and obviously Fred gets something decent even on an expiring. But ignoring that, and just looking at the situation from December 30, I think they've done quite well.