With regard to Oladipo, Stone swung and missed for sure, but at least he's swinging for the fences. I like that he's taking risks. What if Dipo had gotten here and balled out? He could've easily turned into another first round pick and a good young player at the deadline. You're blaming Stone for Dipo stinking but hindsight is 20-20. Moving Harden for a boatload of Brooklyn picks and swaps as opposed to Ben Simmons and just a few picks is a gamble too. With Simmons there's a baseline of performance, but we all know that he'll never be the best player on a championship team. But there's a real shot of Brooklyn's package turning into a bonanza of lotto picks. Harden, KD, and Kyrie all have fragile egos and they all have player options after next year - if the Lakers or someone else clobbers them they're likely to crack immediately. And don't forget they'll all be on the wrong side of 30 soon, and KD and Kyrie have a long history of injuries. So maybe they stay together for the next 5 years and win 50+ games every season, making those picks and swaps nearly worthless, but at least you're playing the odds to win something big. And this attitude about LeVert and Allen, you'd think they were all-stars or something. All of these years we praised Morey for flipping Lowry for a pick and then using that pick to nab Harden. But instead of picks you'd rather pay LeVert $17 million a year and Allen even more? To do what exactly? Win 47 games a year maybe? You think either of them would've brought a better return at the deadline than Oladipo? Allen the restricted free agent? And LeVert the cancer patient? Again, Stone gambled that Dipo would've had more value at the deadline. And he's gambling that the Brooklyn picks and swaps will turn into gold. He's taking these risks and keeping our cap sheet clean in an effort to avoid mediocrity. You may not like the outcome in the short-term, but I like the game he's playing and I hope he keeps swinging.
Love the post! Love the optimism. It is what it is. I think Aaron Gordon blew it up for us. Him not wanting to come here and Miami having cap space to sign Oladipo outright made it what it is. Lowered what we were going to get in this deal.
my how far the bar has fallen. Apparently, oladipo is now considered a big swing for the fences. Yikes
Not to mention that the whole idea behind "swinging for the fences" is going for something that's NOT likely to pan out, but if it does, you're in great shape. We're not the kind of club that can withstand that approach if it fails (like we're about to find out). It should be something you do when you're close and need that extra little bit, not when you're starting over and hoping to build something.
We traded for an unrestricted free agent that every team in the NBA was aware wanted to go to Miami who just so happened to be able to create enough cap space in the off-season to sign him straight away. We hoped to pump up his trade value and then ended up having to trade him to Miami, because nobody else would touch him knowing he would possibly only be a rental. Head scratching decision.
With regard to Oladipo, Stone swung and missed for sure, but at least he's swinging for the fences. ok
I think it’s the exact opposite. Swing for the fences when you’ve got nothing to lose. Don’t take dumb risks when you just need a little to put you over the top.
swing? tilfuk mandated that stone go get an expiring contract. every single trade the past 3 seasons including today’s has been about taking back less salary. we salary dumped james harden and there’s no way to sugarcoat that
If Vic had generally played as well here as he played in that first game with us then teams would've been lining up to give us a first round pick and more at the deadline even knowing that he would be just a rental. Teams will pay for a rental if they believe it will push them over the top. But instead Vic was terrible after that first game - no one could've predicted just how bad he would be.
They offered James another supermax extension before they traded him. No way anyone can say that the Harden trade was an effort to dump salary.
