Before the season started, I was not looking forward to seeing another year of grind it out basketball. If Roy does not return and our difference maker at center out, there is no reason this team cannot run more. Our ball movement will improve and lead to easier buckets. When the ball movement has been good, this team has been a joy to watch.
Agreed, this team has been most exciting when we up the tempo. Roy will have no choice but to be apart of it when he returns. He'll have to learn to love coming off screens, I have no doubt he can thrive doing it.
By the same token, fun to watch or not, it takes talent to win. With the roster as it today (no Roy, no Oden, no Pendy), we haven't the talent to win a lot of games.
I think we have the talent (even without Roy and Oden) to be a playoff-level team. Seventh or eighth seed. We do NOT have the talent to challenge the Lakers in the West or to compete in the long run with the top several teams. A question is whether that's good for the long-term health of the franchise, or whether we'd be better off trading Miller/Camby/Joel, giving time to Johnson/Mills/Babbitt, and adding as much top-tier prospect action as we can get with those guys and a high draft pick... Ed O.
I think the unfortunate fact is, we need to move the old guys, settle in for a rough year or two, and get some draft picks. We cannot afford any free agents with our current predicament, and most free agents will not be looking to come here now. If we dont move Miller, Camby, Joel, etc now, we will just be stuck in mediocrity for 2 years before the bottom falls out and we will hit rock bottom anyhow.
I think we would run into the problem of trying to develop too many players once again. LA, Dante, Batum, Rudy, Wes, and Armon is plenty of youth to develop. Having veterans helps this maturation. Just look at how much better we are tapping rebounds out to the guards since we picked up Marcus. Andre could cut his minutes a bit and give Armon 20 a game. That would be plenty for a rookie PG. Miller/Joel/Camby being traded would do little for getting Babbitt on the court. Rudy, Batum and Wes are keeping him off the court. I am not worried about Mills getting time. The guy would be a great stat stuffer on a losing team. No reason to spend time developing him.
Lamarcus and Batum are no longer young guys they are veterans, even if young. I know it seems just like yesterday they were rookies, but they have played several years of ball here now. Rudy has been playing pro ball for years in europe before here. Most of the other guys you mention are role players at best. The team in order to move forward, will need to get some impact players, and that means moving old guys and re-arranging the team so we can bring that talent on board.
