Alpi, Amen, and Green are the core of the core of the core

Amen is the core of the core of the core of the core

 

The next several games will be the best indicator so far as to who are the core of the core and who are the Corest.

 

Giannis would still be my target. If it cost Green, Smith, Suns pick this year plus other picks, that would be cool

 

Personally I wouldnt read too much negative into the playoffs. Kids are way too young lole Jalen and Sengun only 23. When they reach their prime at age 25+ they gonna be much better than today.

 

interesting that Jabari is not mentioned. I haven’t been super impressed with Bari through 3 seasons but I do think he’s improved every year and has a bright future. I’m also impressed with his defense and versatility. I question the lack of aggressiveness. Not mental toughness but (as DD would call it) “killer instinct”. If he can master shooting over people in the mid range and continue to improve the 3pt shooting efficiency, I’m not sure u want to let that guy go somewhere else on his next contract. Those are going to be the true Bari blossom years. It always takes bigs a little longer and Bari was super young. The guy will eventually be able to play 3 positions. This yr would have played out much better had he not broken his hand. He was playing his best basketball of his career right before the injury. I think we should prioritize keeping those 5 guys together. I could live with trading anyone else on the team.

 

I'm still a "Bari over Tari" guy. Not just because of Tari's leg issues, but also because I think Jabari has more offensive upside and higher basketball IQ. I would be willing to trade either of them in the right package though.

For me it's, in ranked order:

Tier 1: Would only consider trading them for a top 5 player in his prime
Amen Thompson
Alperen Sengun

Tier 2: Would only trade them for a significant upgrade (i.e. All-Star caliber player) who fits our timeline and roster
Jalen Green (borderline tier 1)
Jabari Smith Jr
Tari Eason

Tier 3: Would consider including them in one of the above packages to get the deal done or consider trading them for a smaller upgrade or a good enough draft haul
Reed Sheppard (borderline tier 2)
Fred VanVleet
Dillon Brooks
Cam Whitmore

Tier 4: Fine with sending them out for lateral moves to improve roster construction/flexibility
Aaron Holiday
Jock Landale
Nate Williams

 

Personally I think Jabari is a lot more valuable than Tari. First of all Jabari is just healthier, and I dont really know a lot of young up and coming F/Cs with stretch capability who are also good defenders. There's Naz Reid, Kalel Ware...and who else? lol

Maybe this is a reflection of Rox waiting for KD or Giannis, Jabari might be the young guy in those trades.

 

Cam has Killer Instinct, more than most...giving up on him would be dumb.

DD

 

Just because he goes hard at the rim does not mean he has a killer instinct unless you are talking about suicide. Killer instinct is doing everything necessary to play winning basketball. Cam has not once exhibited the ability to put aside his immaturity to be a winning player. He should be looking at Amen and Jalen and their determination and the accolades and money that is being rained on those players as examples of what is a killer instinct. You have some kind of weird parental instinct to idolize these self-centered, immature brats like KPJ and Cam. We all hope Cam can get his act together, but attributing some special inner fire to such a lazy adolescent minded adult is beyond weird.

 

Maybe…. I think Thompson is currently the most untouchable….

I would highly recommend not to get too many feelings for individual players until after the offseason.

 

Clutch Fans not ready for the very real possibility that the roster looks much different next season.

 

I agree with trying to keep those guys together. I think Jabari has had the pressure of being a third pick over his head but he’s improved. His defense has been important to the teams success but he’s also starting to show some assertiveness within the offense

It sucks that he got injured but the silver lining is that it forced Ime to decide who Amen would replace in the starting lineup.

I’ll be interested to see if Bari comes back as a starter next season or will Ime stick with Tari allowing Smith to stay aggressive offensively without deferring to Jalen and Alpi. I assume Fred is the out as a starter whether he’s back or not.

That said, the playoffs will probably change everything about who we think the core should be.

 

I lol'd

 

It's so weird that's our most efficient offensive lineup. Two non-shooters, two average-ish shooters. I'd guess it's because that lineup gets a lot of offensive rebounds, forces a lot of turnovers, and gets out in transition a lot?

 

I think Giannis is out of there. The Rockets have to get over Ok City in the west. He's the answer to that.

 

Giannis doesn't fit, and still is Raw.