NASHVILLE, Tenn. — This season's COMO Finals matchup shows the importance of building through the draft. Well, sort of. St. Louis and Newport Beach aren't leaning on homegrown talent; Instead, they swung a league-changing draft-night deal last June that made them the league's two biggest favorites. Now one of them will win its first championship. A quick recap: Newport Beach sent John Wall and Nikola Vucevic — both expected to be cap casualties — to St. Louis in exchange for No. 2 overall pick Brandon Ingram and Gorgui Dieng. Wall and Vucevic joined an excellent Hornets core that also included Hassan Whiteside (traded the season before for Anthony Davis' ballooning contract) and Jimmy Butler. Then, GM Aaron Connolly made a pair of savvy additions in free agency (Mike Conley and Kevin Love). Before the calendar year was over, Newport Beach GM Peter Mayer sent Ingram to Colorado as part of a package for superstar guard James Harden. That move turned the Grizzlies into a three-headed monster featuring Harden, LeBron James and Russell Westbrook. The draft-night move was the rare trade that helped both teams reach the mountaintop in Year 1. "Well, we really both armed each other considering I used the cap space and assets he sent back to go get Harden, so in a way, this championship is a product of that trade," Mayer said. "I don't think it's as league-changing as the Newport/Shorewood trade in the inaugural season, but it may be the second-most important trade in league history." He's referring, of course, to the Steph Curry-Russell Westbrook move that was directly responsible for a trio of Shorewood Show championships. And without St. Louis' move to get Whiteside and clear cap space in early 2016, the Hornets would not have been in a position to pick up Wall et al. "Last we tallied, teams that criticized St. Louis for the Davis trade = every other team," Connolly said. "Teams that finished behind St. Louis in the standings: every other team. Sad!" Regular-season champion St. Louis — fully healthy for the first time in a long time — looks like the favorite to win the series, especially if Newport Beach's Big 3 aren't outstanding. The Hornets had a first-round bye, then slayed Shorewood, 3-1, in the semifinals. The Grizzlies escaped a three-game series with Minneapolis, then swept Minnesnowta to punch its second straight ticket to the championship. "The Finals will be a clash of GM strategies," Connolly said. "Newport led by the three-headed beast and St. Louis, which has a more balanced and deep lineup, without the knockout punch. Good trade overall. Everyone should take notes."
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