Lakers picks were always going to be good eventually, just did not expect them to start being good so quickly. Nets-Rockets trade is a perfect example of how quickly picks can turn into something very appealing, I bet Houston expected first good picks to start coming post 2024 but they may be getting some great ones soon.Ah, my bad, that's a good point. Many of these big trades that include a lot of first round picks seem to miss that. New Orleans is getting pretty lucky that the Lakers picks are turning out to be hallways decent, but generally you're gonna get a lot of very late first round picks that don't often turn into NBA starters.
There are some trades where you expect picks to be great but the team trading them doesn’t. Westbrook trade was like that, though Houston got so bad that they may not convey. Lakers 2027 and 2029 picks are amazing assets if you are getting them unprotected.
But Jrue Holiday trade, people bragged about picks but barring Giannis injury they were never going to be good.