Why NBA Teams That Draft For Talent and Trade for Need Rule the NBA

Talent over need.

For many of the top teams in the NBA today, it's the three-word philosophy that's made the draft less a daunting rite of summer—and a cause for termination—and more an engine of positive, transformational change, as well it might at Thursday's edition in Newark.     

No Thorn in His Side

It's worked rather well for Philadelphia 76ers president and general manager Rod Thorn. As he recently told The Philadelphia Inquirer while discussing Thursday's NBA Draft:

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"It's clear to me that if someone has more talent and has a bigger upside than someone else who might fill that need, you take the guy with the bigger upside. It's very difficult to pass that up."

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Thorn, of all people, should know. He had a hand in the Chicago Bulls taking Michael Jordan with the third pick in the 1984 draft, built two Eastern Conference champions with the New Jersey Nets in the early 2000s and now has the Sixers back on the upswing.

He knows a thing or two about the draft, among other things. He'll have his share of opportunities to exercise that knowledge, too, since his Sixers own the 15th, 45th and 54th picks in this year's draft.

His influence over the proceedings may well grow from there, with a draft-day deal involving Andre Iguodala within the realm of possibility amidst the emergence of Evan Turner in Philly.

Thorn, though, is only responsible for putting together the Sixers' current roster. It was his predecessor, Ed Stefanski, who signed Elton Brand, drafted Jrue Holiday and Turner and hired head coach Doug Collins.

That being said, if Thorn can improve the Sixers' offensive output—be it by picking up a scorer in the draft, swapping his All-Star wing for one and spending to keep Lou Williams in the City of Brotherly Love—then they could find themselves back in the upper echelon of the Eastern Conference in short order.

Thunder Up

Not far from where the Oklahoma City Thunder currently reside in the West. They currently stand as a shining example of what the talent-first draft philosophy can do for a team's fortunes.

Much of the credit for the Thunder's success belongs to general manager Sam Presti for his bold wheeling-and-dealing over the past four years.

At the 2007 draft, he chose Kevin Durant with the second pick and sent Ray Allen from the then-Seattle SuperSonics to the Boston Celtics in a deal for the fifth overall pick (Jeff Green).

Two weeks later, he used a series of trades to turn Rashard Lewis into two future first-round picks.

Presti spent one of those picks on Serge Ibaka in 2008 (24th overall) and used the other to acquire Morris Peterson and Cole Aldrich (11th overall) in 2010.

More importantly, Presti was prescient enough to pick Russell Westbrook fourth overall in 2008—after Michael Beasley and OJ Mayo had already come off the board—and James Harden third overall in 2009, once the Memphis Grizzlies tabbed Hasheem Thabeet.

Neither won Rookie of the Year (Derrick Rose took it in 2009, Tyreke Evans in 2010), but both have become key cogs in OKC's winning machinery.

To be sure, Presti's front-office reign has been far from perfect. Among other things, he pulled the plug on a trade for Tyson Chandler in 2009 on account of a failed physical—before Chandler led the Charlotte Bobcats to their first playoff appearance and the Dallas Mavericks to their first title—and attempted to fill the void at center with Aldrich, who was last seen riding the pine.

That being said, Presti took talent first in building his Big Three of Durant, Westbrook and Harden. He parlayed his other assets (like Jeff Green and his draft picks) into valuable pieces to fill other holes on the roster (Kendrick Perkins at center and Thabo Sefolosha on the perimeter). 

Following the Blueprint

Of course, Presti owes much of his success to the tutelage San Antonio Spurs general manager RC Buford, under whom he learned the tricks of the trade.

Few front-office minds draft first and ask questions later as well as Buford has in his career.

He's been a part of the Spurs' player personnel department since 1994, and though he wasn't in charge when the team took Tim Duncan in the 1997 draft—Gregg Popovich was—he was responsible for constructing the iterations that won titles in 2003, 2005 and 2007.

And by constructing, I mean drafting Manu Ginobili with the 57th pick in 1999 and Tony Parker—at Presti's behest—with the 28th pick in 2001.

Throughout his run as the "sheriff" in San Antonio that's spanned more than a decade, Buford has employed all manner of fringe free-agent signings, shrewd draft choices and timely trades to fill in the roster around Timmy, Tony and Manu and keep the Spurs' dynastic ship afloat.

The success of the draft-then-trade approach isn't limited to these three teams, either. The Chicago Bulls built a winner around the talents of their draftees (Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Omer Asik), albeit with one high-priced free agent (Carlos Boozer) boosting the bottom line.

The Indiana Pacers have emerged as the serious threat in the Eastern Conference, thanks in large part to Larry Bird adding David West—via free agency—Darren Collison and George Hill—both via trade—to a drafted cast of Danny Granger, Roy Hibbert and Paul George.

Even the Orlando Magic, shambolic as they may seem now, employed one particularly talented draft choice, Dwight Howard, as the centerpiece of a run to the NBA Finals.

Technically, the Celtics did the same.

But, they had to wait nearly 10 years after drafting Paul Pierce to see him hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy alongside Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, both of whom, truth be told, filled massive needs on Boston's roster.  

And that's just in the East. On the other side, the Clippers have gone from perennial laughingstock to attractive destination with their draft success, setting up one homegrown trio (Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe) as the foundation of the franchise and flipping another (Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman and Al-Farouq Aminu) for Chris Paul.

The Grizzlies, whom the Clips ousted in seven games in the most exciting series of the opening round of the playoffs, used trades for Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol to strengthen their front court. They used the draft—with Rudy Gay, Mike Conley and OJ Mayo—to bolster their back court.

The Nuggets, too, have used the draft (Arron Afflalo, Kenneth Faried), trades (Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler) and draft-day trades (Ty Lawson) to put themselves in position to extend their playoff streak to nine years and counting—even while giving up a superstar in Carmelo Anthony.

Let's not forget, either, that the Lakers used much the same strategy, albeit over a longer stretch of time, to pick up Kobe Bryant at the 1996 draft. They also selected Andrew Bynum at the 2005 draft and brought Pau Gasol to LA in 2008.

This is all without mentioning a handful of other teams, like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Cleveland Cavaliers and Washington Wizards, that appear to be on the long and winding road to success.

Big, But Not Easy

Just as the New Orleans Hornets might be, if they play their cards right on Thursday night and beyond.

They've already done well to clear cap space by trading away Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor. They'd do even better to use some of that financial flexibility to keep Eric Gordon, whom they acquired in trading away another superstar of their own drafting.

And if Anthony Davis, the presumptive No. 1 pick in this year's draft, pans out, and if the Hornets put the No. 10 pick to good use, there may well be some top-notch basketball on display in New Orleans before too long.

Those big ifs are entirely intentional, by the way.

A team can sink all manner of resources into scouting and development, but there's no telling how any given prospect will actually turn out.

Just ask the Portland Trail Blazers, whose fortunes have been dashed by Greg Oden's fragile knees—and the efforts to rehabilitate them—after passing on Kevin Durant.

Ask the Sacramento Kings, who've seen Tyreke Evans fall from Rookie of the Year to potential trade bait and DeMarcus Cousins fluctuate between Prince of the Post and basketball pariah.

Ask the Charlotte Bobcats, Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, who've "botched" enough draft picks in recent years to stock, well, the Bobcats, the Warriors and the Raptors.

Once in a blue moon, a team has the opportunity to bypass many of the—necessary—trials and tribulations associated with the draft-then-trade strategy. The Miami Heat pulled off the trick via free agency by signing LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in one fell swoop.

Granted, it's not every day that three franchise stars hit the market at the same time.

Even rarer is the occasion that a team is able to clear enough cap room to sign all three. Rarer still are the times when all three can be convinced to sign together at a discount. 

In any case, hindsight is 20-20, especially in an enterprise as fickle as the draft. However, if you're going to dabble in such a risky enterprise, then you might as well go all in with the most talented players possible than "play it safe" by filling specific holes.

And if you can do both at the same time, with the same pick—even better.

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