Are rookie contracts more valuable now than ever?

[Duderonomy]

I hate to sound like Captain Hindsight but think about if the Cavs traded TT and/or Waiters instead of My boy Wiggles. Love/Bron/Kyrie and 4 years of Wigs for under $6mil a season. That's hard to beat.

The Celtics seem to betting on all the late round picks they drafted panning out instead of going ham like everyone else this offseason.
The Bucks are everyone's darkhorse team in the east due to Parker and the Greek freak still being on their rookie deals.
I still think the teams that draft and scout well will still be the real contenders after the smoke clears from 5y/80m deals being handed out like candy.

[Jameerthefear]

uh, TT and Waiters wasn't going to net them Love.

[SwishSquared]

In an environment where the cap will hit $108M in a couple seasons, yes, rookies will be extremely underpaid. That's why teams aren't as willing to part with first rounders as they would have years ago.

In Boston's case, they don't have enough roster spots and playing time to properly give all of their picks the proper development time going forward. That's why they've tried to consolidate picks + players in hopes of gaining a more valuable player, whether via trade or the draft (such as trying to move to #3 and then #9 this season). They make use of their D-League affiliate, but they have lots of frontcourt guys who will want mins. Lee, Zeller, Sully, and even Amir can/will be in contract years this season.