Why are draft picks so valued now?

[pandiani17]

I remember that when I first started watching the league 20-25 years ago, few teams give a shit about draft picks. I mean, some teams used to have three draft picks (via trades) in the same year (Nets in 2001, for example) but that wasn't seen as something important, as those picks were far from being a sure thing (the Nets draft Richard Jefferson, a good player, and Jason Collins and Brandon Armstrong, a not-so good reserve and a player I have never seen playing). Not a very good return, indeed. It would be laughable to watch a team trade a starter for a future draft pick, for example, as you never know how the pick will turn out. He might be, better, yes, but he might be worse. Nowadays, it's the opposite end, draft picks are very coveted, teams trade important players away for future picks when they don't know whether these picks will become reliable players or not. Any thought on this?

My personal take is that GMs want to extend their stay in their team and therefore when they don't have a very attractive team they go "rebuilding mode", ala the Sixers' process, and so instead of getting fired they can deceive the fans into thinking that in the future they will have a great team because they have "all those first round draft picks".

[iamgine]

I think nowadays they calculate the odds and come up with a number of how much a future draft pick is worth. Also, many teams do need to gamble on draft picks because it's hard for them to attract free agents.

[rawimpact]

I think it's like the NFL in regards to QBs. Players have a very short leash in regards to development. Most teams are still looking to emulate the Warriors in shooting and rightfully so with the pace and shot selection today. The game is not won in the paint or mid-range. I don't know the statistics, but I wonder what the average FG% is for the top 10 draft picks (outside of centers like Wemby).