Like 95% of posts are saying sign FVV/Lopez, now your scrutiny confuses me. Huh, another case of inarticulate certainty...
I selfishly don't want to sign a vet because I want these kids to be able to learn and grow with a real coach. I'd rather sign cheaper vets to one or two year contracts and have them come off the bench and mentor. Is it wrong that I'm still playing the long game here? If your goal is to win now, one or two of Green, KPJ, Jabari, Sengun, Eason, Amen, Whitmore have to go, and so do KJ Martin, Tate, and Nix. There's just not enough minutes to win now and develop these players. This is a turning point in the franchise. Either we've got to send some of these guys packing in order to win, or we've got to embrace the development, which means we shouldn't spend a ton, and we shouldn't expect to truly compete for 2 to 3 more years. I kind of think I want to develop organically. What a disaster Silas was.
Trade for Tyus Jones to share PG duties with Amen. Keep Ty for 3rd string PG Bench KPJ to back up Green Sign Grant Williams to start next to Jabari with Cam and Tari coming off the bench in the forward spots Sign a bench C to support Sengun, realistically someone like Drummond, Plumlee, Bryant, Zeller. No need for major FA move here (Lopez, Poeltl are unrealistic targets and overkills for what we need. Jabari can absorb some mins at C as well) Trade KMJ, Tate, Garuba, and maybe Josh Enjoy the season!
This is what I would PREFER - but Stone has to win now - so unless that young team can win for him now, his job is on the line here this season, so he is going to have to save his job and bring in some mediocre vets for an overspend to try to win a few more games......and we need to clear some of the young players we can't develop 10 of them at once. DD
The problem is, growing organically doesn't often work in today's NBA. And what you said. We can't win now. We also can't expect to do anything with mediocre vets. If we're moving off one or two of those big prospects, we're going to have to send them, with picks, for a star. Otherwise, you end up as a Sacramento, or OKC, OR Orlando, more specifically. Mired ina rebuild with "a lot" of young talent, that never particularly develops. Our best bet is to go all in on a Dame trade. Maybe pair him with Brandon Ingram if we could. Somehow keep two of Sengun, Green, and Jabari in that process.
In 5 days, we will get early hints on where a couple of these FAs are heading. Six days after that bags pack ready for summer league.
Some of you guys are missing the whole point. In reality we are not that bad...the coaching was atrocious and we most likely tanked later in the stretch. With Ime this team will be transformed, I promise you that. We have a chance to win 35+ games with the current roster in the first year. EVERYTHING THAT HAPPEN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS CAN BE THROWN IN THE TRASH CAN AND SHOULD BE DISREGARDED. Its a totally new era
We need shooting and at the same time, i don't see what the point is of paying old vets to kill on court development time for the younger guys. I love me some Tari, but we already know he is great off the bench. I don't see Cam contributing for a few years. Like TyTy of the last year, just pretend Cam isn't even there. I want Tari to start, but if Ime has KPj locked in off ball and defensively, i think we need to try a lineup with KPj at the SF for spot up shooting and secondary creator. If it's too small defensively, then we move up Tari and change KPj's role to a 6th man, but still off ball to a developing TyTy. We do need to sign a real Center with size and length. I've got real high hopes for Usman and Tari. These 2 seem like glue guys that you see on championship rosters since forever, except one of them has to be a permanent bench player unless Bari just completely busts and never gets better. We're in the grind gentlemen. It's going to be several more rough years of developing, but i'm glad we chose this route. There is a difference from this starting point vs tanking. We will still lose a lot of games the next few years, but with no future drafts on our minds. Just developing what we have. Home grown.
I can see an 8 to 10 game improvement. I think we can hit 38 to 40 wins in 2 years time with the projected development unless of course 1 or 2 of our young guys just goes nuts and turns Super Saiyan.
You can't play 2 really slow footed centers together, especially if Green is on the court, the hit to the defense would be too severe.
If Tari and Garuba and Cam are hits, where do they fit? Which one starts? Do all 3 do a small ball bench lineup? If Garuba becomes a corner 3 specialist with lockdown D, is he the better fit at the 4 with Bari sliding down to the 3? Tari the blue collar workhorse at the 3 but not good enough shooting on a lineup that desperately needs it. KPj too small for the 3, can Cam slide down to the 2 and KPj run the 1 off the bench if TyTy doesn't take another step up? So many questions. I feel like we're eventually going to have no choice but to lose 2 or 3 guys we really like.
I think a lot of fans realize Dillon Brooks is a glorified Danuel House - but your GM, Raffy Stone absolutely loves him and his personality - that is why it is very likely he ends up on the Rockets.
I'm with you on everything except for LaVine. Replace LaVine with someone like Paul George and we are now live... That second unit is going to absolutely eviscerate teams...
Personally, I feel like we are both in a great spot and a tough spot, at the same time. I would love to see what a Thompson/Green/Whitmore/Bari/Sengun lineup looks like. That sounds exciting to me, and there’s some sick athleticism in that group. That being said, if we roll with that (and the other guys we’ve got), it’s going to be a slow ascent to relevancy. This year, maybe it’s 28-30 wins… next, maybe 30-35… By the time we reach the top, are some of these guys from a few drafts ago now free agents? It’s a tricky window. It’s tough because you want to see a big improvement in this team (and I think we can), but you are going to need some vets who could potentially push these young guys to the bench, which is hard. If you go get say a Middleton and a FVV, you are cutting down minutes for Thompson and Whitmore. Maybe that’s necessary though. The good news is that the team has amassed a ton of young talent, has a lot of cap room, and has a much better coach leading the way, so I think whichever way this goes, we will see a big improvement this year.