There have been endless teams with a group of young guys who were projected to do well based on draft positions and rankings, very few have actually met those expectations. What we have now are one of those teams that are projected to grow based on their age, you will know this year if we have guys capable of great things, or if we just have a bunch of young guys who are NBA players. We are really no different than Orlando, Detroit. OKC, etc. etc. Young high draft picks, does not automatically mean a cohesive team capable of producing wins. Otherwise every team in the league would just tank a few years and reset for a championship or the bottom group of teams would flip with the top group of teams every 5-10 years, that just is not the case. Many of our lotto partners will still be drafting in the lotto in 5 years. Most first round picks have talent to be an all-star, but very few actually put it together.
As a general statement, I agree fully. But we also see the players, their mentality, attitude, improvement in their first year, how they fit together. So we have a particular opinion on this team. In that sense this team is one of the best collection of young talent I have ever seen, considering talent+character+fit. I wouldn't be surprised if this group produces 3 or more all stars.
It’s not always that simple. Timing is everything in this regard. Do you have a top pick in years where a draft is strong or weak? Do you draft a player like Luka after you have been bad for a while and already have talent in place? If you draft a player as good as him he will practically take away your opportunity and ability to put more talent around him in the next draft or two because the team will be too good already. Now the only way to put talent around him through other ways. (Trading for Christian Wood) bahaha There are other examples as well. One being what kind of city is your team in? If it’s desirable it could skew you closer to free agents instead of drafting. Do you think guys would rather live in Utah and chase Mormon girls or Miami and hang out with hot Cuban girls? How about injuries? Do you think the Blazers would have pretty damn good with LaMarcus Aldrich, Roy, and Oden? Uh yeah… but they are forgotten.
If he was found guilty by the courts, I think the league would have cut him for them. And yes if he was found guilty. As for Lamb, he is just not good enough - not worth the hassle. DD
For safety. DD won't let us have anything nice. at least you hate Segun. Sengun gonna have a break out year confirmed. DD made a thread about EG being traded and 100 months later he is still here.
That is what this thread is for, not for the haters to come in with the same tired......arguments....hopefully they will cheer Scoot on when he blows up and won't continue hating him. DD
I would be beyond stoked if KPJ hits remotely close to any of the numbers being thrown around here. To put things into perspective, some of those numbers are for all time greats that are the head chefs of their kitchens. We have a LOT of chefs in the kitchen this upcoming season and he plays sous chef next to Green.
Not really though. Green can't run an offense, he might be the top scoring option, but he's not the primary ball handler. Green should be 3rd on that list behind KPJ and Sengun. A lot of really short sighted fans think that a team has to have one "main" guy....but that's not how it works on a team with this much talent. Everyone has their role to play based on the things they do well. Sengun and KPJ create for others. Green and KPJ create for themselves beyond the arc Sengun creates for himself in the post. Smith, Green, and KPJ knock down catch and shoot 3's. Green and KPJ score in transition. Smith, Sengun, and KPJ play defense and rebound. The fact that there are so many options on the team could cut down some of the individual scoring numbers, but they should more than make up for it with assists.
My money is on scoot blowing up this year in a negative manner, while Bucket is a bit more streaky than we’d like. Year 2. No worries. But if scoot blows up mentally and other teams stay focused on green- he will take his lumps which will ultimately help him.
That's where my money is. He's immature, in a contract year, probably is already pissed he hasn't gotten it and he plays for himself..not to mention there's talent on the team (hopefully)
Putting your "money" on a young mans collapse is pretty demented, keep your bad juju to yourselves! Will you support him if he's great, or is that not a possibility because you have to be right? Asking for a friend
The goal for Jalen should be to establish himself as a 20 ppg scorer on relative efficiency. I am afraid you're setting yourself up for disappointment expecting him to average 23+ and shoot 36% from 3. With defenses keying on him, I think he'll have some nights where he really struggles. I do expect KPJ to be more settled at PG with a year under his belt. He will never be the quintessential PG, but he can be pace controller and dominant offensive force with maturity and time. I would love to see both guys grow together and occasionally take games over with their speed, athleticism, and sheer talent and exuberance.
They're gonna bury EG on the damn court. The only thing you'll see are his arms sticking up through the court in his usual "where's the foul?!" pose.
