Yeah - it would really SUCK to be 5th seed in the playoffs. I'd much rather be 5th pick in the lottery every year - and get all excited about 'potential' rather than actually winning games.... Championships HAVE been won from worse than 5th seed before you know... If you had a lineup of Lowry Martin Granger Scola Hayes you could be a 5th seed. Find a shotblocker for the middle, and homecourt is an eminent reality.
You'd rather watch this team as constructed now, than to be a 5 seed in the playoffs? Remember, the Spurs are old, the Lakers are old, The Blazers have constant health issues, and the Mavericks are old. No telling how those teams will pan out in the next year or two. That leaves the Thunder, Nuggets, Jazz, Grizzlies (who might lose Gasol or Z-Bo this summer), and the Jazz as teams we have to worry about. I don't know about you, but this squad with Danny Granger, and hopefully a decent center could make a serious run at a top 4 seed in the west. Just my opinion though
....what's Granger's work ethic like? I'm a little hesitant to make an investment on a 28 yr old with no leadership skills, a problem staying on the court all season, and just showing a fairly large dip in production. That's a little too close to Tmac territory when he was in his late 20s. If Granger doesn't have one of those great work ethics that help him age well, I would say we should RUN away screaming.
I like Granger but I think adding him doesnt help our defense (much), or offense (much) really if you think about it. Trade assets better spent imo waiting for a a big to become available. Im crossing my fingers for Bogut personally. What would it realistically take to acquire him anyway?
I like the way you think. I have been hoping The Bucks crash and burn this season. Not to mention his value is low this year, since his play has been inconsistent.
If you can get Granger without giving up any of our Lowry/Martin/Scola core, you do it. You have to think Dwight would give Houston serious consideration with a starting lineup of Lowry/Martin/Granger/Scola. No stars to team up with, but with the way Lowry's been playing that makes four borderline All-Stars.
how could any professional organization not see this coming? did they not watch this kid play in high school? Did they not see his game at Cincinnati? That's how Lance plays, and he was clearly many many years of maturing away from changing. not saying the kid doesn't have talent. he does, but if he's not going to be learning by osmosis from being on the big league roster, the pacers need to keep him in the d-league for the year. here's an article from a few months back about the pacers unwillingness to send him to the d league. makes no sense.
Granger seems like the guy that DM would covet. A borderline star on a decent salary stuck on a craptastic team. Sound familiar? Lowry/Dragic Martin/Lee Granger/Budinger Scola/Patterson ???/Hayes
Takes shots from Martin...no thanks. We need a two way player at the wing who doesn't dominate the ball on offense (think a 6'8" Courtney Lee) and that elusive, shot-blocking, rebounding 7 footer we've been dreaming about and then we can roll to contender status.
He does what Kmart does . . . . on offense. Except he can take over a game. He is bigger than Kmart, blocks shots, and does not weigh 150 pounds.
We can get the production of granger from cbud for a fraction of the price. I'll take hibbert who possesses a skill set we actually lack.
You're right, Granger is a good all-around/2-way player. His contract is extremely reasonable given his skill-set. His numbers have gone down slightly this year, but that's most likely due to there being more talent around him (not that that's translated into success for the Pacers). With the emergence of guys like Rush and George, we might be able to get Granger without having to give up too much, relatively speaking. An upgrade is an upgrade, and that's exactly what Granger is. As much as I love the SFs on this team, Granger is head and shoulders above all of them, it's not even close. A change of scenery may be exactly what Granger needs as well.
Yeah I don't see how Granger makes us championship contenders, it only makes us Atlanta in the West. Good but not great players, playoff fodder to the superstar teams. The only question I have is if Granger can attract a true superstar to come here, my answer is no.
28 isn't old.. but are we ready to start contending right away with him? If not.. then what are we looking at? 29? 30? 31? I kind of put a Granger acquisition in the same bucket as an Artest acquisition -- if you're that one piece away from getting over the hump, go for it. The difference being the Artest hump was a championship contender and the current Rockets hump is just making the playoffs. Well, that was the reason he slipped to the 2nd round. In the 2nd round, teams feel like they can take more chances. I guess chalk this one up to another failed chance.
