Look at the Thunder. They had Westbrook and Durant and were horrible initially. They improved internally. Yes, they got Harden but he's gone and they're still good now.
Well we have an All Star at another position and Batum is the next Pippen. We have three stars. They have 2. Plus, I still think Aldridge can improve.
Batum is not the next Pippen. He might be Pippen light, but he's not even close to Pippen yet. His defense would have to improve in leaps and bounds. We might have three potential All-Stars, but they have at least one superstar. We don't. What's the last team to win without a superstar? I don't think Aldridge will improve much more at this point. I think he's reached his ceiling.
Success in the playoffs can make you a superstar. I think Lillard is a potential superstar. Batum is one of like 9 players who have ever gotten a 5x5. And he's still young. Pippen never did it. And Pippen was never considered a star until they won.
ANDRE IGOUDALA + DALEMBERT or JJ Reddick and a Center. just guys to spread the minutes out a bit. we have some cap room....get some good guys for the bench and some help int he middle and we should be at the minimum a playoff team http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/page/FreeAgents-12-13/nba-free-agents-2012-2013
Well, we don't really need Aldridge to improve that much...he's probably a top 3 PF in the league at worst. Just need him to stay steady. Lillard appears to be a superstar...we really need an "enforcer" type...we get a guy like Pekovic and we'll improve dramatically...get some decent role players like Tony Allen and build a real bench and we should be pretty good.
I'm okay with that..... I'm not thrilled with Iggy, and I think I'd rather have Mayo, but I wouldn't be unhappy with Iggy and Dalembert.
He's not our first priority, but like last summer, I think he's a viable fallback plan if we strike out in the free agent market. He'll test the waters, and if someone overpays him, he's gone. If not, and Olshey can't lure his desired free agent target, I think he offers Hickson something like $6 - $7 million/year for two years with a 3rd year team option. Again not plan A, but last year's plan A (Hibbert) fell through and Hickson was our consolation prize. BNM
See what I'm talking about? We have the pieces. Leonard is the center you guys want. Give him time. Maynor and Claver are solid bench players I don't want to replace. We have a winner here, guys. Just be patient. We have three All Stars.
While I think it is possible that we will have 3 All-Stars I also don't ever believe that our 3 guys will be All-Stars the same year. Even if our team is more well-rounded than MIA's at some point we won't get the Big 3 reputation that they do.
We got really good pieces. We just need to bolster the bench and let guys develop. I would love to get a guy like Oladipo in this draft.
