Value Young And Priming Players

Hey Jacob.

I think you really do a great job of evaluating players and coming up with different analysis or ideas for teams or players, to understand the value of players or make possible changes and adjustments.
It's really fun to hear your thoughts on players or trades, and in particular I think your draft prospect bullet point breakdowns are an excellent example of that.
In terms of evaluating players, one thing I think that I look at extremely differently than you is ages of players, and in particular young players who might be truly valuable or even untouchable, and also when players are going to be entering or in their prime.

Lowry was 26, about 3 years older than Barnes is now, when he was traded to the Raptors and he wasn't that great of a player yet, being traded for a future first round pick.
Masai didn't want to include the young Siakam or Anunoby in the Kawhi trade, and they were basically nothings on offense at about age 23 and 21 after each averaged about 7 points the previous year.
Josh Giddey is still just 22 and he already shot 38% 3PT on 4 3PA this year while Caruso shot 35% on 3 3PA.
James Harden was about 23 and playing on the bench for OKC the previous year when he was traded to Houston.
Shai was a bit younger at about 21 when he was traded away after his 10 PPG rookie year along with a 20 PPG Danilo Gallinari and about 5 first round picks for a 28 year old Paul George.
Barnes is just 23, already won rookie of the year, and has already been an All-Star, so he'll just be entering his age 24 season next year!

Trading players like that who are under 25, who you drafted very high, who you could have as a franchise player for the next 10 years, and who could be a top 10 player in the NBA might not be wise at all, regardless of who you are trading them for.
So I think you generally don't want to ever trade young players with All-NBA potential who haven't proven themselves like Harden, Shai, or Siakam, let alone young players who have already proven themselves to some degree like Doncic, Carter, or Barnes.
Carter's rookie year he was already 22 by the way, a year younger than Barnes was this year.
Also, on top of Barnes ability, he seems to already be a natural leader even at his extremely young age, which may be quite uncommon for such a young person, and certainly wasn't the case for players like DeRozan or Lowry at age 23 for instance.

To go along with that, it can be worth realizing or wanting players who could potentially be top players in the NBA while entering and playing through their primes, which I see as age 27 to 33.
Again, Barnes will still just be 24, so his prime might not even start for 3 years.
In particular, it is worth noting that the Raptors have many young players now, while Giannis will be 31 next year.
Even more importantly and really worth considering is that three of the biggest acquisitions of proven players by the Raptors were for Ibaka, Kawhi, and Ingram, who were all 27 when the Raptors traded for them.
So, they were all just entering their prime years, and you could potentially have had them for at least 6 years of their whole prime, which was just starting.
Meanwhile, Barnes and some other players on the Raptors like Quickley, Barrett, and Agbaji are younger and will be entering their prime in a couple years.

When we look at trades or when we are evaluating players I think it is primarily important to always consider their age and potential first, instead of just comparing what players are in the deal now or how good they are now.
In particular, I think it is worth knowing that 23 is still very young and that giving up anyone who has any potential to be one of the best players in the league when they enter their prime may not be wise at all.
Also, it is worth considering that keeping, having, or getting players who could be one of the better players in the league when entering their prime at about age 27 may also be extremely valuable, and that getting players who are 32 or just past their prime may be much less valuable and not worth giving up these potential young and prime entering players for.

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