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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 6, 2016 15:19:56 GMT -5
Remember back in years past, we had Perk, Jefferson, Gerald, Delonte and Tony, along with Paul Pierce, and we optimistically thought we had a championship caliber team once the young guys gain experience and develop their vast untapped talent. In hindsight, that team wouldn't have won a title -- at its best, we would have been a playoff team with no real shot at the championship. But still, we hoped and dreamed.
Are we doing the same thing once again, when we think of the young talent we have on the team now, and the future talent we're going to be adding through the draft? As far as those 25 years and younger, we have Olynyk, Smart, Rozier, Jaylen, Demetrius, James, Mickey, Zizic, Nader and Yabusele. If we keep Brooklyn's picks, we're going to be adding more lottery talent as well.
Looking at all these young guys, and projecting what type of players they will be, we may be tempted to overvalue and overrate them. But in actuality, and in all probability, they may not even turn out to be rotational role players. They may not even make it out of the D-League.
Right now, we have Al Horford and Isaiah Thomas playing in their primes and playing at an All-Star level, and Bradley and Crowder playing at their highest levels (most likely). Once these guys start to age and are on the downside of their primes, there's the possibility that none of the young guys turn out to be All-Stars to replace them.
What I'm saying is, is this our best chance to compete for a title? Is our time to strike right now, with Horford and IT in their primes? Should we take a gamble with our young players and our future by trading a bulk of them away for established stars?
Sure the Warriors are a huge obstacle, and the Cavs and Spurs look tough -- but just play with me for a second. If we could use our young players, our draft picks, and some core pieces to make a couple of trades for stars, could we even the playing field?
Say we could get DeMarcus Cousins at a good price. And we pay more for Klay Thompson. Our future would be bare, but would this lineup be enough to compete?
Cousins, Horford, Klay, Bradley, IT.
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Post by afceltic on Dec 6, 2016 15:58:20 GMT -5
I wouldn't say that our future would be bare because of how young those four we end up with are. Unless by future you mean 5-10 years down the road because that team would attract the "ring chasers" to fill out the team and it would be young enough to at least make it to the Conference Finals for the foreseeable future. Every team slows down after five years, so that would include the time post LeFlop for Cleveland where that team should rule the East. As long as Pop is there, the Spurs don't ever seem to slow down. We would have the same timeline as the Warriors, so it would likely barring an upset us vs the Warriors every year in the Finals after LeFlop retires.
I wouldn't be against it if we could get those two guys. But as you said, our window would be the next 5 years to win titles. Another angle is that could IT convince Cousins to sign here as a FA so we wouldn't have to give up anyone to the Kings? Then you make the trade for Klay and that would cost us some of the guys you mentioned, but it wouldn't totally deplete us and I believe that we would get to keep one of the two Brooklyn picks too. IMO if this dream scenario were to ever happen, that is the best case.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 6, 2016 17:49:56 GMT -5
There's a thought, AFC. But we'd have to have the salary space to afford Cousins as a free agent.
For instance, say we pay a kings ransom for Klay (Amir, Jae, Jaylen, Rozier Brooklyn's '17, '18, others). We'd then have to clear enough cap space to sign Cousins.
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Post by Roadrunner on Dec 6, 2016 19:22:58 GMT -5
No. Danny has this team pegged when L James retires. Favorable contracts, young players.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 6, 2016 20:08:13 GMT -5
No. Danny has this team pegged when L James retires. Favorable contracts, young players. But the point is, what if those young players never turn out to be stars? What if our attempts to get all these draft picks and young players does not translate into having a great team 5 years from now? What we know is that we have 2 All-Stars in their prime right now. |
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Post by afceltic on Dec 6, 2016 21:14:44 GMT -5
There's a thought, AFC. But we'd have to have the salary space to afford Cousins as a free agent. For instance, say we pay a kings ransom for Klay (Amir, Jae, Jaylen, Rozier Brooklyn's '17, '18, others). We'd then have to clear enough cap space to sign Cousins. We already have enough to sign a max player after this year with what we have now. But you can start by getting rid of our soft bigs in Zeller and Olynick. I wouldn't give GS both of the Nets picks because we will need one of them if we sell the farm for Klay who is on a team friendly 16M deal right now with 2-3 years left on it. |
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Post by FLCeltsFan on Dec 7, 2016 15:07:33 GMT -5
I'm not looking to compete for the championship this season but I think that next off season Danny will get another free agent and possibly make a trade or two with picks and players who aren't in the picture going forward. Zizic is looking pretty good playing overseas and has had several very dominant games. So far he looks like the real deal. But, whether that translates to the NBA, we shall see. I believe that Jaylen will be a star. Possibly as soon as next season. Jay and Avery have improved their game every season and will probably do so again next season. I don't think it's time to panic and say now or never. This season, it's clearly the Warriors and the Cavaliers. Next year, who knows.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 7, 2016 16:13:01 GMT -5
Whether it's this year or next, it may be that our window to contend revolves around Horford and IT, our only All-Stars. Adding more All-Stars gets us closer to a championship.
My concern is, I'm just not sure if it's wise to put all our eggs into one basket and hope that our young players will turn into elite players. I'd like to think that Jaylen is a future star, but it's no guarantee. Nor can we be absolutely sure that Rozier, Smart, Mickey, etc can be key contributors on a championship level team.
But while we have 2 All-Stars on the team now, our opportunity to strike might be best taken while our 2 All-Stars are still playing in their prime.
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Post by runrondo on Dec 7, 2016 16:33:46 GMT -5
I think you're very spot on with your comparison to the past team with Pierce and the young guys. I feel like every fan base for every franchise overrates their young guys. It's easier to salivate over the potential than accept the fact that most guys don't turn into superstars, allstars, or even starters on good teams. I'm sure Danny isn't hoping to sit on what he has and expect it to all pan out perfectly. I feel like he'd be quick to pull the trigger and trade anyone when the trade is right just like he did before.
If we think about this, who do we have that can seriously turn into a starter on a championship team? Maybe Jaylen? And that's far away from now at best. Smart is like a Tony Allen type player for me which is very important, but the others are all just average potential if not just end of the bench guys IMO. The others overseas I don't even think about because guys that are overseas stashed away never get me excited. I see posts about them posting a double double and I just don't see how people can get excited over that. I'll believe it when they're in the NBA.
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Post by DERRENMATTS on Dec 7, 2016 17:28:47 GMT -5
Well, we also hear from Danny and Wyc that we're always on the lookout for fireworks. They're ready to make a big splash, when the price is right.
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Post by Roadrunner on Dec 7, 2016 23:40:05 GMT -5
I think part of the issue w/ making a trade is that fellow GMs are very hesitant to trade w/ Danny because of past track record of fleecing teams. Thomas, Crowder, and the Nets picks.
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