Patience is a virtue - why we may not be as far off as we think.

Yea I don't get the hate from this board for Tate either. He's a valuable player and he's got a good reputation around the NBA - a lot of teams would be willing to go out of their way to get him. Personally, I'd rather we keep Tate if he's willing to gut it out on this team. He's on a cheap contract for multiple years and he's that one player who will do all the dirty work and not back down.

 

I think we can be a winning team next year, with a couple additions and a proper coach.

 

As long as tactical and rotation decisions are made by Silas, we will under achieve.

He wanted to take the ball out of Harden’s hands… then wanted to put the ball in Oladipo’s hands and extend his sorry ass… then decided the ball should be in Porter’s hands when the only way Green will be a superstar is to handle the ball… now Green has basically forced the issue and I still don’t count on Silas to not yet again try to get Porter to run the show.

That doesn’t even get into his inability to recognize Sengun’s ability or incorporate him into the offense….

We still have Silas wanting Gordon on the roster because he doesn’t have to be coached and relying on a guy like Tate that isn’t a core piece.

Let’s also remember that the guy he wants as his starting center now is the same guy he didn’t want back at the end of last season.

Only way Silas survives is if the talent around him lifts him up.

 

We will have another high draft pick and cap space for a max free agent.

Contrary to people like @SamFisher, I think our team oozes talent.

Really all we need is a proper coach, in my opinion. I would have liked for it to be Silas, but I have very little faith in his decisionmaking at this point.

 

We don't hate Tate but he is not a starter. Similar to Gary Bird, Garuba can come from the bench.
We discuss here whether 2.09m (6'10'1/2) tall Alpi is undersized or not. Alpi might be 1 inch shorter than desired C where Tate is 6 inches shorter than desired height. Last year Tate started at PF, this year Jabari, 7 inches taller..
Tate averaged 5.3 and 5.4 rebs a game last 2 years. Jabari is averaging 9.2 rebs and 16 points per game at the last 5 games. The start was rocky but it seems that he is settling. We were outrebounded when Tate was playing and became rebound monsters with Jabari-Sengun-Garuba-Bruno-Tari.

He was getting $2M and the contract was changed to $22M/3 year, technically he is going to be paid $10M for the next 2 years. Not cheap at all. Alpi+Garuba+Tari+KJM just makes $10M totally.OK, rookie contracts but still the reality.

Theis can not get more than a million a year in worldwide and he was paid 8, Tate can not find $2M contract in overseas and paid 10. Very strange.

 

We have to get Wembanyama or Henderson. Even after getting a franchise level prospect, I'm not sure how reasonable it is to expect playoff runs for another few years. Y'all want to tank and draft teenagers it takes them years to develop like 3-5 not 0-2.

 

Yes... patience.

We're on schedule. We've bottomed out twice and on our last year of it.

We've gotten a lot of talent out of it without giving up any meaningful assets.if we rushed and traded for an equivalent talent we'd be better than we are now, but with no way to improve from good to great.

Next year when winning becomes priority and we have Silas on a short leash paired with actually making moves geared towards building around our best talents we will start to see it come together.

 

Man I'm afraid you are going to be right. Silas is not going to keep Tate on the bench if he is healthy, and though I like Tate as a player (especially if he's been working on that three) I like what I've been seeing from KMJ more. Feel like KMJ brings a defensive (shot blocking) presence that Tate doesn't. And definitely don't want to cut into Jabari's minutes. He needs as much seasoning as possible.

 

I get what you're saying and agree that he was playing out of position - Tate should be matching up with 3s mostly. We were outrebounded last year not because of Tate though, that was mostly because CWood played heavy minutes and he never boxed out and was soft as hell. Tate actually boxes out and hustles his ass off.

Tate worked all summer on his 3 pt shot and it would've been nice to see if it really did improve but he has barely played this season due to injury. If he can knock down 3s at something like 35%, then he definitely has a place on this team as someone who can play hard-nosed def, be somewhat of an off-ball secondary creator, and just an overall good glue guy. With how KJ is playing and eventually Tari, yea I agree Tate likely isn't going to be a starter for this team either and I think he was extended to at least fill-in until one of the young guys emerges (obviously, KJ has improved a lot to the point that he should be starting). But it's not like he's getting paid $20M/yr like KPJ to be in the bottom 10 percentile, and Tate doesn't have any attitude or ego problems either. I'm sure Tate would be completely fine coming off of the bench.

 

We will welcome him as long as he is not a barrier for Jabari+Tari+KJM minutes. He can get some from EGordon or Nix minutes (I don't know how in Nix case).

 

I agree DD

Players as long-term (greater than 1-year) plan:
1) KPj
2) Jalen Green
3) Kenyon / Jabari / Tari
4) Jabari / Sengun / Tari
5) Bruno / Sengun / Garuba / Jabari

Questionable
Mathews
Tate
Nix
Josh Christopher
TyTy

So we mostly need a:
*backup "Combo Guard" so that G4 and KPj can rest.
*Starter or Backup (for depth) Wing (long wingspan)
*Starter or Backup (for depth) Center (mobile and versatile)

Repetitions and experience

 

Players for 2026 championship:

1- 2023 Draft/TyTy
2-JGreen/KPJ
3-Tari/KJM
4-Jabari/Garuba-Fagent
5-Sengun-Garuba-Bruno-Free Agent

Additionals:
At2 and 3 we have no problem. What we need:
1-Head Coach
2-Vet back-up PG
3-Back-up 4&5

Expandables:
EGordon
Nix
Matthews
Tate
Boban
Unknown two way contracts
-

 

idk... i was kinda hopin we make a substantial jump next year - when we got a crap load of cap space at our disposal... after using and consolidating some assets into at least 1 more good young piece from the draft...

so i think there's still going to be major retooling of the starting lineup next year...

just hammer the fundamentals with the kids this year... run standard set plays ad nauseum... until they become ingrained...

get Wemby or Scoot or other high prospect in the draft....

overspend on a free agent or two...

and we're ready to rock n roll next year...

 

Adjusting your line-ups somewhat, but that's my take on what gets us to being competitive. I agree with everything else you stated.

 

I actually think there's value in Tate on this roster. He doesn't need to start but he's a dog, solid defensive ability/instinct, can handle the ball (which we're not exactly the best at) and hustles his ass off. That's exactly the sort of roleplayer any team needs. He could easily be ran in lockdown situations at the 2, he doesn't even have to compete with KJ/Tari at all. Of all the people on the roster, I'd cut: Nix, Burke, Boban, Fernando and Christopher before I cut Tate in all honesty. The main difference between Tate and those guys is he actually has trade value, which could probably serve us better, especially if packaged with EG for a serviceable PG. Man gets way too much slander for his ability though, and people still out here sucking off Christopher who isn't a quarter of the player right now that Tate is...

 

4 games they gave away. It's a young team. They're supposed to turn the ball over but not the way the Rox do it with unforced errors.

3 less turnovers, a vet back up PG and Jabari Smith not going through a Funk would have the team at near .500. So I'm with you with the talent not being that far off. Now you add a world class phenom in Wemby


You're still going to need a coach to bring it all together.

 

We are one Coach and one Point Guard away from being a .400 team