They were never considered contenders, it was a freak run coinciding with dirk just catching fire for half a season. The Spurs still had the greatest PF of all time and a top 3 coach of all time. There are exceptions but generally the contenders have the best players in the game on their team. Look, we are not going to get relevant until we get at least a second team all nba type talent on the roster
But Spurs do have 3 hall of fame'rs on the team and the best coach in the NBA. You can't really use them as an example.
Getting "back on top" implies that we were recently on top, which we never were. So to measure our team by that standard is a little disingenuous. I think we can get back to where we were (bottom-half of the Playoff seeding) within the next two seasons. Maybe we won't make it to the 5th seed, but IMO there's not all that much difference between the 5th seed and the 8th seed. Without any roster changes I think this team can achieve everything that the LMA-"lead" teams achieved. In order to become a contender we'll definitely need a couple major roster additions - and I fully expect Neil to make a big trade or two within the year.
I think we were close with last year's squad plus the flexibility we had with our roster to improve. I think getting to the playoffs at all are a pipe dream unless we can add an Allstar on the team.
That's why I said there's a lot of money to work with. Think we all know we are gunning for a big target next offseason. I think our team is good right now. Give players that didn't get much of a chance with former team playing time. If we don't make the playoffs, that's all good. It's going to be a fun year either way.
bingo..welcome by the way...the Hawks a couple years ago did what we're doing with some success...they've succeeded recently because of great coaching and coachable players..I think we'll follow suit and in a year will be vastly improved and add some marquis talent..it's all about coaching now
I think we could be a lot closer to relevance than many people here do. *shrug* Maybe I just drunk the Kool Aid too much, but the potential is right there. I think Meyers and CJ have a decent shot of living up to their All Star potential, and I think Ed Davis is going to do a lot of the same things for us that Lopez did. Then you have Lillard continuing to add things to his game every year. That's 4/5ths of a playoff caliber team. Vonleh has a lot of potential too, and Aminu isn't much worse than what we got out of Batum last year.
I think the optimistic comparison for the Blazers is the Magic the year Doc Rivers won his CoTY. A team that was built to tank that way over-performed through hustle, and spreading the minutes around (so everybody could go all-out). We're arguably more talented, but the West is so insane that counteracts it.
You think the ATLANTA HAWKS ARE CONTENDERS? For what? They win a bunch of regular season games in the east....... that's about it, year in and year out. Google the meaning of contender quick before you accidentally post again.
Make the Playoffs at all "at all"? Or making them next year "at all"? If the former, I disagree. If the latter, I agree. I don't think anyone thinks the goal is to make the POs next year. But with a couple years of growth, and depending on the landscape of the WC, I can see this roster being 6th-8th seed in two or three years, which is right back where we were before this rebuild. Right now we're better everywhere except at the wing positions. Once we get those positions addressed (either through improvement of Aminu/CJ/Harkless, or through trades) we will be as good or better than we were. But getting a SG and SF that can be as good as Wes/Nic will be tough...although if we're measuring purely on last season then our SF doesn't need to be all that great. I guess we disagree on the output of last year's squad. Even if Wes had stayed healthy I believe we were another 2nd-round exit, at best. The fact that we fell to shit when a moderately-talented player went down speaks volumes. The team was a pretender regardless of health. I'll be the first to admit that Wes was the heart & soul of the team, but if we were truly a contender we shouldn't have fallen off a cliff when he went down.
I don't think we make the playoffs until we have two all stars on this roster. Period. The most likely way for that to happen is if we get the #1 pick in the draft in the next two years. Otherwise, if we can get a DeMar DeRozan type player, we might get into the tail end of playoff contention. Warriors Rockets Clippers Grizzlies Spurs Pelicans Thunder Lakers Timberwolves Will all have better rosters than us for the next 3-4 years, at least if things are on the current trajectory. We're basically competing with the Jazz and the Suns in terms of relevancy and ability to get into the playoffs.
Aminu is a completely different player. He's more Bo Outlaw compared with Batum's Derrick McKey. You can't just slot Aminu in and hope to play the same game. He may end up being as valuable, but only if our gameplan changes to fit him. Put it this way, I think Batum has been at least on a level with Chandler Parsons, and Aminu got 18 mpg backing up Chandler's 33 last season. On the Mavs. Who are coached by Stott's coaching guru.
