A zero-sum game is one in which when you do better, someone else does worse. Which is to say, it's not like the economy, where both of us can get richer at the same time, but for Golden State to improve, someone else has to get worse.

When teams trade, they might both improve, but it will be at the expense of the other teams in the league.

When Golden State "gained" Curry at the draft, the team picking behind them "lost" the opportunity to take Curry.

> I would say Curry was a "gamble" pick.

I don't understand how to reconcile this with saying that the Warriors were lucky Minnesota blew their picks and he fell to them.