I was just wanting to get everyone's opinion on how we should build our team, and if there was a recent blueprint we could follow as far as contentionship goes. Jalen Green is our only cornerstone. He is a sharpshooting athlete who'll surely be able to drop 30 in his sleep going forward. Now how do we compliment that? Does he compare to any guards on recent contending teams? Can he be a Booker who expanded his game or is he more of a Lavine, a one-dimenaional scorer for life? Is Sengun a poor man's Jokic? A playmaking dynamo who can be our fulcrum as well as scoring inside and out If we get Jabari Smith Jr... are we now looking at a Denver Nuggetsesque core? What do you guys think?
1) Establish a culture - where individuals are not more important than the group. Where players know they are expected to give 100% whenever they are on the court - incl defensive, picks, etc - not just scoring. Accountability. 2) Get players who want to be a part of a team - and not prima donnas. 3) Devise a game plan that best suits the skills and abilities of the players you have.
The rockets don’t have their picks after next year. What is the point you are making? Are you wanting to tank to give the Thunder a good pick? Are you a parrot that learned a sentence and just repeats it incessantly?
There's no blueprint to follow. The only constant for every championship team is: acquire a legit superstar(s). After that it just really depends on team construction, front office competency, head coaching skills, and a good amount of luck.
Acquire superstars. Acquire long, athletic and malleable prospects. That's the NBA meta right now. The more switchable defenders the better. The more capable ball handlers the better. Other than that, take the best talent. To me, it's the Raptors who are building their team in an incredible way that could be followed but they are missing the Jalen Green level "superstar" talent. I think Gary Trent Jr. could become a go to guy for them down the road though and cannot believe he was so overlooked. Maybe Scottie Barnes can take that jump but I don't see his ceiling as a 1A or 1B type of bucket getter. Superstars can get you a bucket when the game slogs.
This would be contradictory to: 1) Run things based on the whims and desires of the guy making the decisions - coach, gm, owner... 2) Find the player with the most upside that u can acquire - make the org his b****... and hope it works out. 3) Reinvent the wheel, cut corners and try to juke the system by instilling a gameplan that will theoretically allow you to exploit certain aspects of the game... LOL!
You guys give really insightful answers - I love it I guess I was also curious if, based on our young stars, what team could we be most similar to if they reach peak of their powers? Definitely agree that we need long wings to muck up opposing teams' offenses. I hope KJ Martin gets that chance to be our starting 3 next year. I love Tate but I almost feel he may be better off the bench.
Slow down there, buddy. Only 31 players in NBA history have had a season where they average 30+ ppg. 13 of those 31 have only done it once; 7 have done it twice. We're not in a place to declare Jalen will join that list "in his sleep."
I'm sorry - I meant that he had the capability to drop 30 every night. I guess the way I worded it was way too exaggerated. I agree with you. I'm just a hopeful thinker.
So far the most reliable blueprint is get one of the best players of all time and if you can't get one of the best players of all time get multiple ones that gel together. How you do that varies. Have a top 10 offense and a top 10 defense There's no fool proof way, but those seem to be key ingredients to the recipe
I'm amped on where we're sitting. I believe Green can be a corner piece (a far cry from the beginning of the season when I definitely said he was playing like Corey Brewer..... but he was). I'm very optimistic about Sengun. I believe if he can be even an average defender his worst case scenario for our future is as a valuable trade chip and his best case scenario is as an all-star that is somewhere between Domantas Sabonis and Nikola Jokic. I believe KPJ can be our Mad Max. And I believe Josh Christopher is potentially the greatest player of all-time. Obviously. Then you add a Chet or Jabari or Paolo or even Ivey or Sharpe? I think the next step is to hope a more natural facilitator like Luka, Ja or Trae becomes disgruntled. Either that, or you hope we're in a position to somehow get Scoot Henderson in 2024 (preferably from the Nets pick. How amazing would it be if they just completely implode?). So many possibilities. So much to be excited about! Personally, my dream is a lineup of: C. Sengun PF: Holmgren SF: KPJ or Christopher SG: Jalen Green PG: Ja Morant But admittedly a whole lot has to go wrong over in Memphis before that dream can be realized. Right now, it doesn't look like Ja will be unhappy there anytime soon.
This isn't 100% true there are some protections on the 2024, 2025, and 2026 picks similar to the 2021 pick. The 2025 pick is also a swap which I doubt will be a big deal since the thunder are on a similar trajectory as we are, so we're not losing 2025. It will either stay or be equivalent to a slight trade down in the 1st round. Looking at other teams' rebuilds it's not entirely unlikely that we're so bad in the 2023-2024 season that the 2024 pick doesn't convey and stays with us. Either way, from a cap prospective, and historically, it is the best course of actions to build through the draft and develop young players. Without being a destination city we have to either draft a superstar or trade for one (by trading quality drafted players and draft picks).
