“I mean…I want KG, but giving up Al Jefferson, Gerald Green and picks is too much. I’d rather win with our guys.”
That’s an exact post on a well-known basketball message board from 2007 when rumors broke that the Boston Celtics were considering trading for Kevin Garnett. The author of that comment wasn’t alone. Multiple posters agreed with that line of thinking.
It’s an age-old dilemma, one that general managers and fans alike wrestle with: when do you push your chips forward and go all-in versus building with the kids you’ve drafted and developed internally?