Great question. There was a lot of controversy and I honestly don't understand why. This was a 3-man draft to us. Meaning their were only 3 players worth drafting with the 3rd pick. Our target was Brandon Roy. He have holes at the 2 and the 4. There were no Power Forwards in this 3-man draft that we considered taking with our #3 pick, therefore if we didn't get Roy then our plan the whole time was to trade out of the pick. We knew our chances of getting Roy were slim even after the lottery revealed our 3rd pick. It was Roy or bust. We considered drafting Rajon for value and trading him to the highest bidder, but what would the highest bid be? Many teams wanted Rondo, and many teams approached us with offers. None were of our liking. So why would we think after we pick him they would have gotten any better? Going that route would be taking a gamble. Reaching and taking Aldridge, which many thought was the right pick, was also a huge gamble in our eyes. We honestly just didn't like the prospect. We wish him the best but he just wasn't a fit for our team. Call it intuition if you will.
So when one would think of the 3rd overall pick you would hope you wouldn't be taking too much of a gamble. So when the J.R. Smith trade hit our desks, we thought long and hard about it. What were the benefits and disadvantages? Well let's say we drafted Rajon Rondo. And we get all the same mediocre offers we received during the draft, and then the Spurs offer us Smith and 10 points for Rondo. Well were going to make that trade. What are the things every team looks for in players? Talent, youth, high potential, and a team generous contract. We achieved ALL of these. Smith is 2 years into his career and still has the highest potential, he's very young, and is still on his rookie deal. We missed out on Brandon Roy, but Smith was better to fill our needs than any player left in that draft in our eyes. So once again I don't understand what the fuss was all about. We are very very excited to have J.R. and look forward to watching him grow and excel even more in a Dallas uniform.
As far as our 4 spot goes, don't everyone worry. We have special plans for this position. Very special plans. And all of those plans don't involve max contracts either