I think both these takes are still stupid. Trae is even smaller than our guards while being less athletic. So imagine his struggles around the rim. Dismissing Green top early man.
Not dismissing him, just don't think he'll ever be as good as Trae already is. But, to be honest, yeah, I am starting to lose faith in Green a bit. Not in his talent, but his shot selection has just regressed so much this year. It is concerning.
Steve Francis - Changed 6 High Schools, Dropout at 18 years old Jalen Green wins his 3rd Straight High School Championship at 18 years old in the same High School in Fresno, California
Who is the McGrady in this situation (that we trade them both for?) Probably Ingram ticks the boxes? - big wing who can create for others (but has a streaky shot) - has won most improved player - is an all star - changed teams after a few seasons and has had more success with 2nd team - is in their prime - has never made it out of the 1st round of the playoffs To complete the similee, we need to get the #1 pick and draft an outstanding international centre (welcome Vic!!) The only problem is then the sadness of getting knocked out first round every year. At least we get to trade Ingram to the Knicks for Kevvy Martin and a bunch of picks (but then waste them on "bewell")
Anyone as young as these two players has lots of years to either star, or flame out. So sure, one, both or neither could go the Francis route I suppose. Not likely to do it exactly how he did it though. The future is so uncertain, we could have a whole team of role players, or one with 3 superstars in the making. Who can say? Who can know?
I think if we traded KPJ AND Jalen for Trae Young...well if we did that I'd completely lose faith in the franchise and likely go cry in a corner somewhere. Trading for a small, unathletic, sorta bad-attitude-having Trae who is brilliant offensively but is quite literally just as bad if not worse on defense than our guards (but without the upside) seems like it would be one of the worst moves since Gobert to Minny. I might not even trade Jalen now for Trae straight up. Lamelo is another story, because of his size and potential. Trae just isn't it for me
Honestly, that's pretty fair. I'm not a big Trae guy myself tbh, and I'd much rather have someone like Ball -- but I just think Trae's offensive impact on the game and efficiency is at the upper tier of the best outcomes for KPJ and Green, and that he is young enough to still improve. Also, I don't think Ball or other young stars are likely to be available like Young might be. I definitely see the down side though. There's a lot to not like about Trae for sure.
Of course. I just don't think his best outcome is as good as Young already is. Maybe I'm wrong. We'll see.
People say KPJ is like a discount Harden, but I think he's not even close to that dubious honor. To me, Trae Young is the true discount JH#13; a generational offensive player who (unlike Harden) legitimately is a negative on the defensive end. Like Harden, he seems like he is quietly kind of abrasive behind the scenes, too--though in recent years the Beard seems to have fixed this. I think he's already reached the ceiling of what he can do as the best player of a team, and that deep playoff run seemed a bit fluky to me as well.
