But didn't they get most of their assets through the expansion draft and then the subsequent first-time-this-has-happened-in-a-long-time-expansion-draft type trades for picks and players to protect other players from being selected? Which were additional assets they could use to trade for more better players...
They got to start with a clean cap slate and lots of players to choose from. GM's sorta lost their shit around the league throwing assets at the VeeGeeKay :vomit: to avoid having certain players picked during the expansion draft.
I'm not sure if the shoe fits here because no other team is going to get to start with a clean cap slate and other GM's literally throwing assets at them to not dismantle a core piece of their team. That's a pretty unique situation, I think.
EDIT: I know it's been a few years since the expansion draft, but that set them up for success.
I posted this last week, but it is worth repeating. Here is the haul Vegas got from just the trades around its expansion draft:
Players: Reilly Smith, Nikita Gusev, Shea Theodore, Alex Tuch (and some others of lesser value)
Draft Picks: 2017: 2 1sts, 2 2nds, 1 5th, 1 6th (gave up 1 3rd, 1 4th)
2018: 1 3rd, 1 4th, 1 6th (gave up 1 7th)
2019: 2 2nds, 1 3rd, 1 5th
2020: 1 2nd
The last two expansion drafts were set up to produce an average team because both franchises paid a ton to the league ($500M and $650M, I think). But Vegas was able to pick up a lot of added values from these trades that Seattle did not. Vegas is not a model of team building that can be repeated because it relied heavily on this huge shot of added talent and draft picks.