[Lowe Post] Simmons: “Can we just get rid of all the draft pick rules? We made these rules in the 1980s when half the league was on cocaine and we had crazy owners who owned bowling alleys— if somebody wants to trade 8 first round picks in a row, who cares”
Lowe says the league/team at one point pitched a rule to their committee, maybe we should ban pick swaps (ie trade 2 picks with a pick swap in between) — in the fallout of the Nets/Celtics trade
It’s weird because the only area where the league “protects” teams from stupid decisions is trading draft picks. There’s no protections on drafting Anthony bennet 1st overall for example, or overpaying someone in free agency
Thehelloman0
I think it’s fine. Imagine if there weren’t any rules, the nets would probably be in an even worse situation than they are right now
LegalEggplants
It’s for parity and the best interest of the league
SnooPies6274
Somebody was perusing reddit
Icy-Lime-9760
Can’t do that, teams would screw themselves for decades.
JimmyWasRight
It’s to protect the franchise from a possible dumb owner, player, or GM who try to force the issue
And honestly I don’t mind it. In the end the fans benefit.
bluesandshoes1
Couldn’t happen with how much control stars have. Say you sell the farm with like 7 first rounders for an all-nba guy, give him the max, and then he can demand a trade the next season.
Bababooey98
He only wants this because it would cause more chaos and give him more shit to talk about on his podcast. Everyone has an agenda.
BillsBillsBils
Protecting idiotic owners from themselves helps protect against fanbases just completely giving up on their teams. It also helps preserve, to a certain extent, the sale value when a bad owner fucks everything up and tries to bail, which protects the other 29 owners’ investments as well.
JustWinBabys
Tell us you want the Lakers to be able to trade more picks without telling us you want the Lakers to be able to trade more picks.
rmacthafact
“who cares if somebody trades 8 1st rders in a row” uhhh the entire fanbase and ticket purchasers
ReflectionGloomy8851
Steve Ballmer has entered the chat
ldnk
Honesty I like the rule. It increases the chance a team trading a star for multiple FRP actually gets a pick they doesn’t suck if they have to be spread over several years
sequence_killer
thats makes the draft a non event for a lot of fans in a whole city
Victorcreedbratton
Simmons is old and lazy.
JonTheHobo
This is pretty dumb, those rules are there so you can’t totally fuck a team’s future and then dip
angel2timez
I think it helps dumb GM’s not make their team even worse. There has been some bad trades that probably could have been worse with no limitations lol
So-_-It-_-Goes
I don’t agree. GMs know they are based on current team and will sacrifice well past their tenure to save their job.
mwyyz
Also protects team valuations.
drblocktagon
Bill just being weird for no reason here. Trading 8 of their own first round picks would ruin a franchise
monkeybiziu
Fans care. The rules exist to keep teams from fucking up too bad and establishing just how bad a franchise can get before it bounces back. Also, it’s keeping franchise value up – every franchise is one draft pick away from contention. Zero out a decade’s worth of draft picks and now you’ve got a franchise fanbase going “Uh, these guys are going to be ass for a decade or more. I’m not watching this shit.”
Yeah, a lot of these rules came from Ted Stepien and dumb shit the league was doing in the 70s and 80s, but you’ve got guys like Sam Hinkie out there that will tank a franchise for multiple years, stockpile assets, and turn it into nothing except shitty seasons.
StormSaniWater
i agree
KayRay1994
I think some should be removed, but not all – protection backups and the stepien rule should be removed, but beyond that GMs should probably be prevented from trading every first round pick for a decade to save their own asses then make the next guy’s job 10x harder
Geralt0908
The rule is designed to protect ownership from itself lol. They’d never agree to it
Ryp69
A blatantly incorrect take just for the sake of podcasting lol.
HerissonG
Listen to Bill’s horrific Pascal take. He thinks he’s the third best player on a championship team..complete clown. 🤡
AfterPaleontologist2
I won’t stand for all this slander against cocaine
gustriandos
It’s not just about crazy owners, it’s bad for the league to have teams on drastically different timelines. If you allow teams to borrow indefinitely from the future, the gap between teams in win-now mode and rebuilding mode would be even more drastic.
I already think it’s annoying that if you want to compete you are almost obligated to trade a bunch of your picks away.
the_alert
Bill knows a lot, but this take makes him seem a little simple. The pick rules and the age limit specifically exist so that the league can protect itself against rotating leadership. A gm going off the rails and trading picks devalues 1/30th of the product. Can’t be having that.
MysteriousMoose
This dude hasn’t had a good take in years he fell off so hard
tapk69
To be fair teams are still offering picks+swaps which is still risky but hey at least you get a pick even if worse.
Appropriate_Day_6693
Talking heads and fans talk from a perspective of a viewer who wants their reality TV show to be full of drama. Nothing more dramatic than moves with such weight that can destroy a franchise in 1 trade.
The NBA needs to understand these people move on to other stuff once the drama destroys the league and will not watch anymore.
Giga1396
TIL owning a bowling alley makes you crazy
BramptonBatallion
Nah, bad for the League if some owner decides screw it and that they’ll be dead in 20 years so may as well trade 10 years worth of 1sts.
Simmons sounds like one of those “enlightened present” types with that comment.
explicitreasons
Get rid of the salary matching for trades too. Who does that help? What’s the point? Also get rid of backcourt violations. Now that we have the shot clock, it’s not needed.
dat_waffle_boi
I agree. If a team wants to fuck themselves let them
Typhoid007
I definitely disagree with this. GMs get fired within 5 years, if they start trading every pick for the next 10 years they’re setting future gms up for failure. Having this restriction makes perfect sense.
NotAOneUpper
Bill was brought on to a basketball podcast to talk real ball. He then shit all over it with his fantasy takes.
beforeitcloy
What “all these rules” is he talking about? Isn’t it literally one rule – that you have to keep a first round pick in every other draft?
Honestly one of the dumbest things he has said in a long career.
antartida_
Wasn’t this rule because of the porkharov era nets?
shingofan
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Simmons wouldn’t feel as strongly about this if he wasn’t a lifelong Celtics fan.
43 Comments
Half the league?
OKC about to offer 20 FRPs for Luka
It’s weird because the only area where the league “protects” teams from stupid decisions is trading draft picks. There’s no protections on drafting Anthony bennet 1st overall for example, or overpaying someone in free agency
I think it’s fine. Imagine if there weren’t any rules, the nets would probably be in an even worse situation than they are right now
It’s for parity and the best interest of the league
Somebody was perusing reddit
Can’t do that, teams would screw themselves for decades.
It’s to protect the franchise from a possible dumb owner, player, or GM who try to force the issue
And honestly I don’t mind it. In the end the fans benefit.
Couldn’t happen with how much control stars have. Say you sell the farm with like 7 first rounders for an all-nba guy, give him the max, and then he can demand a trade the next season.
He only wants this because it would cause more chaos and give him more shit to talk about on his podcast. Everyone has an agenda.
Protecting idiotic owners from themselves helps protect against fanbases just completely giving up on their teams. It also helps preserve, to a certain extent, the sale value when a bad owner fucks everything up and tries to bail, which protects the other 29 owners’ investments as well.
Tell us you want the Lakers to be able to trade more picks without telling us you want the Lakers to be able to trade more picks.
“who cares if somebody trades 8 1st rders in a row” uhhh the entire fanbase and ticket purchasers
Steve Ballmer has entered the chat
Honesty I like the rule. It increases the chance a team trading a star for multiple FRP actually gets a pick they doesn’t suck if they have to be spread over several years
thats makes the draft a non event for a lot of fans in a whole city
Simmons is old and lazy.
This is pretty dumb, those rules are there so you can’t totally fuck a team’s future and then dip
I think it helps dumb GM’s not make their team even worse. There has been some bad trades that probably could have been worse with no limitations lol
I don’t agree. GMs know they are based on current team and will sacrifice well past their tenure to save their job.
Also protects team valuations.
Bill just being weird for no reason here. Trading 8 of their own first round picks would ruin a franchise
Fans care. The rules exist to keep teams from fucking up too bad and establishing just how bad a franchise can get before it bounces back. Also, it’s keeping franchise value up – every franchise is one draft pick away from contention. Zero out a decade’s worth of draft picks and now you’ve got a franchise fanbase going “Uh, these guys are going to be ass for a decade or more. I’m not watching this shit.”
Yeah, a lot of these rules came from Ted Stepien and dumb shit the league was doing in the 70s and 80s, but you’ve got guys like Sam Hinkie out there that will tank a franchise for multiple years, stockpile assets, and turn it into nothing except shitty seasons.
i agree
I think some should be removed, but not all – protection backups and the stepien rule should be removed, but beyond that GMs should probably be prevented from trading every first round pick for a decade to save their own asses then make the next guy’s job 10x harder
The rule is designed to protect ownership from itself lol. They’d never agree to it
A blatantly incorrect take just for the sake of podcasting lol.
Listen to Bill’s horrific Pascal take. He thinks he’s the third best player on a championship team..complete clown. 🤡
I won’t stand for all this slander against cocaine
It’s not just about crazy owners, it’s bad for the league to have teams on drastically different timelines. If you allow teams to borrow indefinitely from the future, the gap between teams in win-now mode and rebuilding mode would be even more drastic.
I already think it’s annoying that if you want to compete you are almost obligated to trade a bunch of your picks away.
Bill knows a lot, but this take makes him seem a little simple. The pick rules and the age limit specifically exist so that the league can protect itself against rotating leadership. A gm going off the rails and trading picks devalues 1/30th of the product. Can’t be having that.
This dude hasn’t had a good take in years he fell off so hard
To be fair teams are still offering picks+swaps which is still risky but hey at least you get a pick even if worse.
Talking heads and fans talk from a perspective of a viewer who wants their reality TV show to be full of drama. Nothing more dramatic than moves with such weight that can destroy a franchise in 1 trade.
The NBA needs to understand these people move on to other stuff once the drama destroys the league and will not watch anymore.
TIL owning a bowling alley makes you crazy
Nah, bad for the League if some owner decides screw it and that they’ll be dead in 20 years so may as well trade 10 years worth of 1sts.
Simmons sounds like one of those “enlightened present” types with that comment.
Get rid of the salary matching for trades too. Who does that help? What’s the point? Also get rid of backcourt violations. Now that we have the shot clock, it’s not needed.
I agree. If a team wants to fuck themselves let them
I definitely disagree with this. GMs get fired within 5 years, if they start trading every pick for the next 10 years they’re setting future gms up for failure. Having this restriction makes perfect sense.
Bill was brought on to a basketball podcast to talk real ball. He then shit all over it with his fantasy takes.
What “all these rules” is he talking about? Isn’t it literally one rule – that you have to keep a first round pick in every other draft?
Honestly one of the dumbest things he has said in a long career.
Wasn’t this rule because of the porkharov era nets?
Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like Simmons wouldn’t feel as strongly about this if he wasn’t a lifelong Celtics fan.