Rafael Stone: "I just think we're not a developmental team any more"

Yes but which Stage of Phase Three?

 

Stone has to say things that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things because he is ultimately in charge already. KD is not coming to rebuilding team. Coach plays every game like it’s a playoff game. The youth needs reps and Stone is going MAKE sure the get it by taking any other option away. We have witnessed Stone’s will before with no lead guard forcing the tank. Coach is on a string with Stone being the puppeteer.

 

Spot on. You have to be a really special 21yr old to have that level of professionalism. I would say its less about Cam being a bad guy and more about him not being at that level of maturity and professionalism for a team that needs that right now - not 3 or 4 years from now.

 

I was going to answer, but looking at your avatar, it looks like you already found the answer.

 

Stone has already shown he'll say anything with a mic in his face. Just more meaningless rhetoric.

 

You don't have to be special in anyway to have professionalism at any age. We haven't had any attitude issues of players we have drafter in recent memory with the exception of Cam and maybe KJ Martin (it's more of his dad).

In fact I don't recall any good players drafted in the past 5 years that has serious attitude issues.

Having an bad attitude is an anomaly in the NBA at whatever age, not the other way around.

Pick your top players under 25, who had a bad attitude at 19, 20, 21, 22. Etc.

 

When will there be Phase: Absolute Favorites to Win it all......

 

I don't think you can chalk it up to just attitude problems, attitude comes from somewhere.

I think he is a troubled, very introverted young man who probably has problems fitting in society or a larger group as it is.....not of the criminal sorts just psychologically.

It is more like nobody really can make a deep connection to him, get thru to him, make no mistake, he is not shallow but a complex person.

He responds to being challenged another way, I do not think it is as serious as people make it out to be.....

He either finds his mentor or he is out of the league, but there should be no hard feelings.

Does he love basketball enough to let it change him and become jovial and coachable? Questions....

 

None because OKC exists.

 

This team isn’t a nanny service for pampered players like Cam or Jalen, who need constant coddling to stumble toward progress instead of naturally hardening up, owning their weaknesses, and evolving. Our franchise has thrown endless chances at Jalen, only for him to flop spectacularly, never meeting the bar we set for him. Cam’s not far behind in this parade of mediocrity. He’s shown he’s little more than a one trick pony, good for flashy dunks or scoring spurts but utterly incapable of embracing the selfless, team-first mentality Ime demands as the absolute baseline. Those garbage time minutes handed to him weren’t a stage for his highlight mixtape; they were a test to prove he could bring something meaningful to the bench’s depth. As a 20th pick, he’s got zero clout to act like a diva, yet he’s too dense to grasp that he’s got no pull with Udoka or Stone, nor the luxury to ignore what’s expected of him. I wish him the best after all but he is who he is. I don't think we regret this decision.

Mark my words: Sheppard better deliver serious bench impact, or he’ll be the next to get the boot. Youth isn’t an excuse for turning this team into a preschool for spoiled wannabes. I’m absolutely stoked about it.

 

Would prefer if Patrick and Tilman would do a big presser before every season to be honest, at least those are the brass.

 

We were not last season either.

 

There it is then. Should be a heads up to Reed that he is expected to contribute positive minutes right away.

 

So you want a GM who constantly exposes their plan to the world?

When's the last time Ainge or Presti exposed what they were gonna do to the media?

 

Reed by himself isnt enough to get you anything of value and even if there are rocky moments they arent going to throw in the towel. But its moot anyways since he's going to ball put.

 

Or maybe we're just not a development team anymore guys. lol

 

You can still be a good speaker or be charismatic, he is neither.

He has the charm of a stone, that is why I always wanted a speaker for him.

 

Yeah, but those teams typically only pay each project $3 million to $5 million a year instead of $12 million a year. My guess is that even if we could take on Ace Bailey right now, we wouldn't want him, not at what he's paid right now. I want to see the draft age moved up to 20.

 

People are taking Stone’s “development team” too literal. He said they stopped being that 2 years ago, so since Ime came. He’s basically saying that’s when we stopped being just about developing and were more focused on winning as opposed to just developing guys. Doesn’t mean he believes there’s no development anymore. Y’all are being too silly with this. Ime himself acknowledged last year the goal was play-offs, that he was slowly implementing new things but because the guys are young didn’t want to put too much on the offense side of things. If people now suddenly buy into this we’re impatient, all about winning now and Ime is going to not give these guys as much of a leech and just expects them to be like veterans, because he let freaking Cam “I don’t give a damn about anyone, I’m a get mine” Whitmore go?

 

Why does that matter though as long as he brings results. His job is to run a team lol