Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Real Men Wear Green
Some of you may not know this but as punishment for the Joe Smith deal Stern took 5 first round picks. That's severe damage and kept them from properly building around KG for a long time.
|
Came in to post this.
KG was everything to those Wolves. I doubt they would even qualify as an NBA team if he didn't play. Obviously, Dirk would have kept them at least semi-respectable, but I can definitely see them missing the playoffs a bunch of years in a row. Instead, Dirk got to play for one of the best organizations of the last 10 years, with multiple all-stars and good coaches, and an owner who wasn't afraid to spend money.
The 5 picks sounds kind of excessive...KG's contract also made it hard to sign other players, but that's not on KG. That was his first payday. And you can make the case that he was worth every penny of it.