I believe Dame is a HUGE factor in attracting/raising eyebrows of these kinds of players; Dame's proven even in this small market, u can make a BIG name for yourself AND get paid. Also, just because a player plays for a team in a particular city, that doesn't mean they have to stay there the entire yr. Lots of guys have a house(s) where they really enjoy living; during the season, it's pretty much basketball (during games, practice, & training so not much time for much else; outsiders a lot of the time put too much emphasis on whether a player fits a particular town; as long as they fit the team, THIS is MOST important; however, obviously I'd love if a player fits P-town & it's culture too). Oh, but to answer the question... HELL yeah "upper level free agents" r now going to want to come here!
I hear ya & maybe so Now is James/his level going to want to come here... I'm not sure but I actually feel pretty good about a difference maker(s) willing to come here these days.
I'm not a fan of tanking for a pick but... I can see how trading CJ for a draft pick this year or a young, future stud kills two birds with one stone. Trading CJ for potential would both make us bad enough to stay in the lottery and we'd get the pick that we traded CJ for. That would get us two top 10 picks in this draft.
Yeah... that's the recipe for success. Trade CJ, your franchise player's best friend. Not to mention, CJ actually wants to be here. He wants to stay and build with Damian. This is his first opportunity to really play and he's killing it. There's no evidence that suggests we can't win with Dame and CJ in the backcourt. It's bull. You don't trade a budding star in CJ and ruin your relationship with your franchise player to add a guy who MIGHT become just as good in a few years time. The franchise player and the entire team stops playing when they see a GM & Coach trying to sabotage their chances at winning. CJ goes nowhere. Sorry to break it to you guys.
It would also save salary for future free agents. But I'm not in favor of trading him for unproven draft picks.
Technically no one is untouchable for the right player. But I am totally against trading a really good player who we can lock up for another 6 years for a pick. Maybe if you knew for sure what the pick was, but that would mean that the trade would have to occur in June and not during the season. For all we know we could trade CJ to a team who promptly wins enough games to move up a few spots. And even then you never know how the ping pong ball will bounce.
For the most part I agree with you. But remember that the trade would potentially result in trading CJ for two draft picks, not one.
A short article about CJ on RealGM.com today - CJ McCollum Has Become One Of NBA's Best Midrange Shooters A good GM always has to be willing to listen to trade ideas. With that being said, I'd hate to lose CJ. He's become a top level starter, a good teammate, and a good character guy. If we're looking at trade ideas, it better be a no-brainer where we kill the other team.
Love the mid range game. We'd be stupid to give that up. Compliments Dame nicely. All we need to address is our defense.
Like I said, I don't support trading CJ and tanking for a pick. I'm just pointing out that I can see why others think it's a good long term move.
I understand it as well. I am just trying to figure out who everyone is excited about. Simmons, Ingram (Who I have not actually seen play), and Hield all seem pretty good. No one else I can see will improve us. But I am sure there a few out there.
I just don't understand why we don't try and build up from here instead of building down to try to build up...
