My favorite path is we don’t find a superstar this summer and hope for someone by the deadline or next summer. Meanwhile Jalen Green puts together the best starting 41 games of any season of his career on both ends of the floor. Sengun is surprising us with his jumper. The paint has a lot of space and the team has a lot of pace. We’re a top 6-8 defense. We’ve crept into the 15th spot on offense. Cam Whitmore, Reed Sheppard, FVV and Jabari Smith start to heat up as shooters off Sengun/Green actions. Things are going really well. It’s early in the season but we’re in the top 6 in the tight West. I hope what happens next is the team abandons the idea of acquiring a star. We just grow internally from there occasionally swapping role players to achieve a good balance. Similar to what OKC is building. Trust your prospects and trust your development staff. Advance one round further in the playoffs each season. I’d be very happy with that. We will have more good players than we can pay and slowly open a 10-year window for championship contention if this is managed well. We have room for 4 players to get paid good to great salaries. I think we can fill those spots exceptionally well. It might be the best strategy for beating the 2nd apron.
I agree with most of this. BUT, I think we should have made the playoffs last year. So I would like to see the 2nd round this year. However, I can co-sign this. Also, why only 41 games for Thrilla? I know he usually heats up after all-star break, but I would love some consistency ALL SEASON(S).
Given the lack of a clear superstar, our best way there is via a collection of 3 all-star level players and 2 plus starters. Bench will follow depending on fit From our current roster, I think that Sengun can be, if not a 1b option, at least a number 2 option for a contender. If he becomes a 35% 3pt shooter, he can average 27-10-6 with 60%+ efficiency. I am not that worried about his defense, because he is ahead of comparable European bigs (eg Vale, Z, Sabonis, Mark G, Gobert) at his age in terms of physical development; he will continue to add muscle, stamina, speed, vertical. From the rest of our young group, Amen stands out for me. I see him as a plus starter with potential for more, if he becomes a Barnes-level shooter. For the the other 3 starting positions, we can either hope that our current crop of young talent develops at a fast pace, or trade them for players that are ready to compete. We have 4 types of assets: The Suns/Nets picks/swaps, I believe 5 in total Our own FRPs. I believe we have 6 till ‘31. In a trade, some of these picks will need to be added as swaps to abide by Stepien rules. Young talent like Green, Jabari, Eason that we feel we can estimate what their expected outcome is, and the possibility of them reaching their theoretic ceiling. I will probably exclude Reed and Cam out of this discussion given the uncertainty of their trajectory. Tradeable contracts in FVV, DB, Adams We can package one of the big contracts together with the other 3 types of assets to get a high-level starter or all-star. Eg Green, Brooks and the Suns/Nets picks/swaps could get us a 1a option like Booker/Mitchell. Maybe not a true superstar (top 7-8 player) but someone that in the right team could be the best player on a champion, like Brown was this year. Jabari, Eason could help us get our #3 option, especially if combined with 1-2 of our own picks, eg someone at the level of Lauri, Trae, Bam, Maxey (names are indicative, could be any player that is at that low-All-star level or even slightly below). We could use our own remaining picks on a high-level starter that complements the top-3 options, similar to how NYC got Bridges/OG. We could fill the bench through the rest of our young talent (eg Reed, Cam), MLE signings, and vet minimums. Unfortunately, the best time to pull this off is now for two reasons. One, after the summer, the Sengun/Green extensions kick in. Two, some of the gettable potential targets are available now at pre-extension contracts, allowing us to go over the cap to extend them in the summer, eg Lauri/Ingram. Of course, we could wait to further develop our talent and hope to find similar situations in the future.
Very good post, but the above seems off by a year. The extensions don’t kick in until the Rockets give them, and they can do it after next summer themselves or by matching. Then only the cap holds are on the books … and for Sengun esp that number is way less than an extension. So the best time to do the consolidation or flip is next summer, with one more year of data on our players and a lot of cap flexibility prior to the extensions. This summer was and should be quiet. Next summer (and maybe this trade deadline) will be action packed.
Who are these superstars we are going to trade for? Right now I would say the only true superstars in the league are these guys: Jokic - not available and doesn’t care enough about basketball to demand a trade Doncic - can’t imagine that Dallas would ever trade him to Houston. Lebron - will retire a Laker Giannis - this is the only realistic guy if he demands out. Tatum- not going anywhere Embid - possible I guess, but sure hope not because of age and injury concerns and what we would have to give up Those are the superstars. 2nd tier stars: Booker - got a chance in next 2 years Durant - too old and too expensive Brown - not going anywhere just signed extension Irving - Nuf said Ant - not going anywhere Maxey - no chance he doesn’t get max extension before next season In conclusion it’s either Booker or Giannis. Booker won’t cost as much in talent, but all the phoenix picks. Giannis will have to at the least ok Houston. There will be serious competition though. Okl, Sa come to mind that could meet or exceed what we could offer.
That's the whole thing. All the salary cap acrobats never break it down to what actual "superstar" would even be hypothetically attainable. I maintain that none of the ones we even have a remote chance to trade for will be more valuable than Alpi after this season. Build around Alpi and our young core. Only big question mark is Jalen, and I would be ok with trying to see how he starts off this season.
I agree with you. To me that 18-19 Toronto team was interesting. Their “tier 1” was Kawhi. While Kawhi was good I don’t consider him in the same realm as the dominant scorers in the league such as Shai, Luka, Jokic etc. And their “tier 2” was perhaps Lowry who wasn’t a dominant scorer himself but fit as you said. He didn’t need always need the ball and didn’t try to do too much but knew his role. That team overall had size, shooting, and defense and closest thing to that Detroit team. The Rockets have several role players that are winning type players that teams covet. If we can get that bonafide num 1 guy we have shot.
That version of Kawaii was probably the best 2 way player in the nba. Yes, he was a superstar. I mean Raptors traded their best player, who was an all star for him and they won the title.
That year was probably the best version of him and the best he played in his career especially in the playoffs. I was talking about dominant scoring and looking at his body of work he wasn’t that to me and still isn’t as he is one of the more overrated players in the NBA. They didn’t just win with him either and we see how he can’t win with the Clippers. That Toronto team was special.
A healthy 26 yr old Kawhi is better than all those guys you mentioned. He was a low usage 26ppg scorer and a great defender. Not average, not ok, a great defender. Not only that, he could take and make clutch shots in game flow. Don't let this version with the bad knees distort your judgement. I mean if old buddy wouldn't have slid under him after that jumper, they probably take the Warriors down
I was only talking about offense bro. I said dominant scorer. In my opinion he is slightly below the elite scorers in the league and that championship year he was the best version of him. And he could not have won a championship without that great Raptor team that played great defense, had size, toughness, and shooting.
I wish we made a push for more ping pong balls in the next two drafts, especially next year. Flagg and Ace would have been #1 in any of the past five or so drafts (except for Wemby). Could be the superstar to take this core to next level.
What you smoking Leonard averages 30 points a game in 2019 playoffs being th No.1 option on like 62 percent true shooting. He was basically the best player in the world for that period of time. The only knock against him was that his stats slid in the Finals, but he was basically hobbled on one leg at that point.
I stand by what I said as my assessment was his overall scoring ability and body of work which I put him slightly lower than the elite scorers in this league and I cited a few examples. I did also mention that he had his best year in Toronto. He was 27 in Toronto btw.You are entitled to your own opinion.
How far did Toronto go before the trade? They traded DeRozen who is still one of the best players in the nba in his prime for Leonard and the won a title. Again, he was an elite 2 way player. He could get whatever he needed to win and an elite defender. Did you see Luka getting blown by all day? Has anyone ever put SGA as a great defender? C'mon man. There isn't a player on this roster that could hold a candle to a 25yr healthy Leonard.
I never mentioned defense did I? I strictly talked about scoring ability and output and was assessing his overall offensive abilities and performance. I never said Toronto could win without him but I know for a fact he couldn’t win without that great Toronto team. That season they also added Gasol and Green who were pivotal in the post season. A young FVV and Siakim saw a lot of growth and were better players than the previous year as well.
Sengun is a really good player. However, he is not on Lebron, Curry, Morant, Zion, Wemby, Anthony Davis, Booker, pretty much the whole list you made's level except for Sabonis, Barnes and maybe one of the old guys falls off even more this year.
Trade Jalen to Washington for their unprotected 25 or 26 pick. They instantly have their superstar. this is the team that rode Beal for years.
You are correct, he is not on Wemby's level. He is way better than Wemby. He DESTROYED Wemby in their last game against each other. The old guys are going to fall off. Zion is not as good as Sengun. Booker and Morant haven't proven anything in terms of being able to carry a team to a championship, any more than Sengun has. Basically, nothing left in your post that would be correct.
