That's what I thought but I changed my mind seeing what I've seen. There was another way to go about this. It seems Morey was more on top of what the new CBA would produce, so operating near/above the cap with easy to move contracts looks like it is going to work out just as well as the strategy you described but without sacrificing a whole season of competing and high level player development. I'm a huge supporter of internal improvement and the idea that young players can make dramatic improvements. The winning experience that Capela, Harrell and Dekker are accumulating this season is extremely underrated imo. This is Capela's first season as a full starter and he is 22. Harrell is seeing his first consistent minutes in his sophomore season. Dekker is essentially in his rookie season. There's no doubt in my mind these guys will come out of this regular season much improved. At the same time, Ryan Anderson's contract is looking like an asset because we are winning in the way we are winning. Gordon's contract is gold right now. Same for Beverley and Ariza who have just one season left on their super cheap deals while still being able to produce excellent rotation minutes for a contender. Another hidden gem is that Harden is MVP and we are the 3rd best team in the league so he will be more capable of recruiting players to extend or sign here. We're looking at - at least - a realistic run at the WCF in my opinion, and still capable of either operating above the cap or going into the summer with the flexibility to create max cap space. I think it has really worked out well. It could have easily gone bad with just a slightly rougher start to the season. But I got to tip my hat to Morey, he shut me up on this one.
an inordinate amount of his made 3's seem to be the inconsequential type, like when the game is already over
We could've still signed Gordon and Anderson and had the youngsters get this winning experience had we gone to the lottery. And no telling what else w would have had on the roster with that lottery pick. As it is now, our holes are obvious and we can't fix them without parting with some of our core. We are most likely going to have to depend on Morey digging through the junk heap of NBA talent to find us band-aid solutions in an attempt turkey advance past the second round. We should have gone to the lottery last season. We gained nothing, zero, zilch, nada, by getting blasted by the Dubs in the playoffs and we lost all the way around by thinking and acting so short-sighted.
Ryno is what he is, Morey and Harden were lucky Gordon wanted to join him or else that contract would've been among the worst in the league. The guy can only shoot and get the occasional rebound, that's it. Nowadays one-trick ponies are getting paid 90s superstar money, it's insane. A PF that does not know how to defend, post up and rebound is basically not a PF. Give me a strong guy who can defend, rebound, dunk and hit from close range any day over someone like Ryno. Funny how we needed the guy who was being honored so bad last night.
