What are the teams built to fail, vs the teams built for the future?(I'll give an example of each, and hope you guys can come up with some more)MIAMI HEATI think the 2006 hurried up assembly of the Miami Heat marked them as a team that was built to fail. Yeah, if all they wanted was to win the 2006 Championship - it was ok - but if they wanted to compete in the future years, good luck with that. The Heat had signed a bunch of old players who were either on the down slope of their career, or near retirement; most of those players are going to retire soon. The obvious player being Shaquille. As soon as Shaq retires, its going to be years before Miami becomes a contendor once again because they would have to develop their squad from scratch; and by that time, who knows if Dwayne Wade will still be a Heat. BOSTON CELTICSThe Boston Celtics have realized that in order to get back to being contenders in the East - they must totally restructure their team. They had some pretty good drafts recently, and have gotten rid of some players that needed to be released like Antoine Walker. They are losing now - but that won't matter in a couple of years when they are at the top of the East - if they can keep their core young players together, where they will learn, and lose together than they will build all the things needed to succeed eventually. Team chemistry is one of the most important parts to a contending team, and the Celtics would have that if they can keep together. This team is like the Jordan Bulls before they beat the Pistons - they fall down and get beaten up on by the other teams many times - but eventually they all collectively learned what it takes to get by. This team is built for the future.
In a way the Nuggets are kind of like the heat... not nearly as bad, but adding AI to the mix and giving up 2 first round picks, they definitely want a championship soon.
I'm not being homer, but I think the Pacers are built for the future.Let's examine the roster:Marquis Daniels - Age 26Ike Diogu - Age 23Mike Dunleavy - Age 26Danny Granger - Age 23Orien Greene - Age 25David Harrison - Age 24Rawle Marshall - Age 25Troy Murphy - Age 26Shawne Williams - Age 219 of the 12 players on the roster are 26 or under6 players are 25 or under4 players are 24 or underThe Pacers are a team that are 4 games above .500 with a mostly youthful roster. And while it's true that are star players right now are older, many of our important contributers are young.5 of our top 8 scorers are 26 or under3 of our top 5 rebounders are 26 or under75% of our roster is 26 or under
<u>Memphis Grizzlies</u><u>Current Players</u>:Hakim Warrick, Kyle Lowry, Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay, Mike Miller, Alexander Johnson, Lawrence Roberts.<u>Salary Cap</u>:Atleast $18million in salary space, which means a possible major free agent. And remember, Jerry West will still be consulting with the Grizzlies, and he is great at getting players.<u>Upcoming Draft</u>:We defiently have a lottery pick. We have a solid chance of getting either Oden or Durant(Oden may not come out, but I think Durant will). If not them, theres still other great prospects who are being overlooked, but without Oden and Durant, would be top 5 prospects any other year.All this leads up to a very fine future. Looking at our roster, its not a 14-43 roster, so we are really a solid team having a terrible year(remember, much of the same team is the team who got the grizzlies to 49 wins only a year ago), plus that salary cap for players maybe such as Billups, Lewis and Carter. Just a possibility though, its not garunteed any of these players will test free agency. And then we have a chance of pairing up a Oden, or a Durant with Gay, Miller and Gasol. Which if we did, we could make history, especially with Oden. IMO, if all works well and favorable to the grizzlies, we could be the team with the brightest future of all NBA teams.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Memphis Fan @ Feb 24 2007, 11:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'><u>Memphis Grizzlies</u><u>Current Players</u>:Hakim Warrick, Kyle Lowry, Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay, Mike Miller, Alexander Johnson, Lawrence Roberts.<u>Salary Cap</u>:Atleast $18million in salary space, which means a possible major free agent. And remember, Jerry West will still be consulting with the Grizzlies, and he is great at getting players.<u>Upcoming Draft</u>:We defiently have a lottery pick. We have a solid chance of getting either Oden or Durant(Oden may not come out, but I think Durant will). If not them, theres still other great prospects who are being overlooked, but without Oden and Durant, would be top 5 prospects any other year.All this leads up to a very fine future. Looking at our roster, its not a 14-43 roster, so we are really a solid team having a terrible year(remember, much of the same team is the team who got the grizzlies to 49 wins only a year ago), plus that salary cap for players maybe such as Billups, Lewis and Carter. Just a possibility though, its not garunteed any of these players will test free agency. And then we have a chance of pairing up a Oden, or a Durant with Gay, Miller and Gasol. Which if we did, we could make history, especially with Oden. IMO, if all works well and favorable to the grizzlies, we could be the team with the brightest future of all NBA teams.</div>Yup, totallyYou guys have a very, very bright future. I'd be proud to be a Memphis fan just because of the Grizzlies future. I woon't be surprised if this team could put toagether a 60 win season someday in the future.
The Grizzlies don't get me too excited. Pau Gasol doesn't want to be there and with him they are a terrible basketball team. Kyle Lowry is a B- prospect, Hakim Warrick put up garbage numbers when Gasol was out, he's a good future 6th man. Rudy Gay has a ton of ability but like I feared, he doesn't go at it 100% and just dissapears half the time....If Gasol is traded they have serious problems on offense. I don't think their is a savior FA this season...but you guys could pick up a couple good guys...a lot of teams have money this offseason. I think they will be an average team over the next couple of years in the west.
I'm not to keen on Memphis, not really sure why. But this offseason, with a high draft pick and cap room, my opinion could very well change.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BrewCityBuck @ Feb 24 2007, 10:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>The Grizzlies don't get me too excited. Pau Gasol doesn't want to be there and with him they are a terrible basketball team. Kyle Lowry is a B- prospect, Hakim Warrick put up garbage numbers when Gasol was out, he's a good future 6th man. Rudy Gay has a ton of ability but like I feared, he doesn't go at it 100% and just dissapears half the time....If Gasol is traded they have serious problems on offense. I don't think their is a savior FA this season...but you guys could pick up a couple good guys...a lot of teams have money this offseason. I think they will be an average team over the next couple of years in the west.</div>Lowry has already shown hes going to be a very good PG. Probably would be starting for us if he wasnt injured. You listen to anybody whos seen him play, and hes going to be a winner. You mentioned that Rudy disapeares...which he doesn't at all. Hes finally getting into the motion of the NBA, and is past his rookie wall.For the past 10 games, hes been everywhere asserting himself, just like everybody and yourseld said he wouldnt. Last night, hes came up huge with three defensive plays, which without them we probably wouldve lost. Offensively, hes been asserting and has been a major factor late in games, he missed a huge 3 vs GS and got yelled at by Stoudamire, so he wasnt as assertive against Portland as he has recently. And people misqoute Gasol, he said he didnt want to play for a losing team, said if the losing doesn't change, he wants out to a contender. Also noted that hes needs a true sidekick...not a third option in Miller. But he has also expressed that hes not going to abandon memphis, and its not in his nature to just give up. I have a strong feeling that next season, when we will most likely be alot better, with or without Oden/Durant and Free agents, hes going to feel different. If he wanted out bad enough, West wouldbe traded him, West isnt going to keep a player who wants out THAT bad. And Warrick can be a legit offensive threat, he averaged 15ppg as a starter...its very hard to get 15ppg as a garbage player. Hes got a killer midrange shot now, and his free throws have been very good also. You mentioned alotve teams have alot cap this season, but its alot more than that. Alot of it has to do with facilities etc. etc.(Jerry West addresed this in a ESPN Radio interview), and Memphis has all new stuff. Our offense is very appealing to players too.
Pau Gasol is as good as gone, when you say that kind of stuff there's no going back, Jerry probably didn't get a deal he liked or felt rushed and will wait for the off-season. You can't have your $80 franchise player bailing, he's done in Memphis.
Im not too sure, I think the media overhyped the trade rumors. I havent really seen many qoutes directly from him, but the ones Ive read, they didnt seem too harsh to me. So if you got a link, I wanna read they stuff you read. but the prospect of having Gasol with Gay paired up with another legit star is going to make it hard for West to trade him, and I think if we do somehow get a Oden or Durant with him, Gasol would like to stay a bit. I mean, theres been a couple times players have seriously thought about leaving, and ended up staying and be glad to stay. But really, it doesn't matter to me, cause if we do trade Gasol, we are going to get his worth. And if the Bulls have a dsappointing post season, Paxson might reconsider the Deng trade...which I would do anyday.
built for future:blazers-----20 year old Sergio Rodriguez has the number 3 best assist/turnover ratio in the leaguebrandon roy a shoo-in right now to be rookie of the yearLamarcus Aldridge is gonna be great in this league after he gets 15 lbs of muscle. Same situation as Jermaine O'neal way back when. Jarret Jack, a sophmore, is constantly getting better.martell webster just turned 20, top 10 draft selection.Players on the team are exact opposite of jail blazers.Tronto Raptors-------not too hard to see. they're good right now.set for failure:Miami Heat------theyll only get older after this year, and since d-wade is out cause of injury, it doesn't look like theyll get close to the finals, especially with the way detroits been playing.retirement village of the NBAMinnesota Timberwolves---------theyve been treading water for a long time and havent done anything to change that. While they do, Garnett keeps getting older and harder to trade.
I think the Toronto Raptors are clearly the best team built for the future. Their core revolves around rising players like Bosh, Bargnani, Ford, and Calderon. Their bench gets a bit old, but no one is really over 30 that has a regular spot in the rotation. We also have the best GM in the NBA, and have a real good coach to boot. I dont think any team in the NBA has a brighter future than the Raptors. We are going places, and we are doing them. Bryan Colangelo said himself is that, 'The good thing about Toronto, is that they have no place to go but up.' The Boston Celtics, Grizzlies, have a bright future, providing they get a good pick, which chances are they will. But there is a chance they will miss out on the 1 or 2. But its not likely.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Rok @ Feb 25 2007, 10:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Talk about your biased fans. Here they are. Not counting BCB or yanks.</div>How am I biased? Infact, I am rarely biased about the Raptors. Most would agree, one of the teams with the best horizons is the Raptors. You tell me what wouldn't make this team built for the future?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (RaptorFan#1 @ Feb 25 2007, 10:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>How am I biased? Infact, I am rarely biased about the Raptors. Most would agree, one of the teams with the best horizons is the Raptors. You tell me what wouldn't make this team built for the future?</div>Look at everyones avatar who has posted in this thread, then see what team they selected. Thats what he means basically.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>How am I biased? Infact, I am rarely biased about the Raptors. Most would agree, one of the teams with the best horizons is the Raptors. You tell me what wouldn't make this team built for the future?</div>No I agree but looking at this topic, most brought up their own team. Some do it in other topics as well, a Grizz fan and Pacer fan respectively.
<u>BUILT TO FAIL</u>Detroit PistonsHey, they gotta stop being so good. Maybe in 2-3 years, they'll lose thier players from aging. Thier starters are averaged more than 30 years old, Indiana PacersIndiana's gonna blow.Miami HeatWith the addition of O'Neal, Miami wanted the title right away, and they got it, but they hand no plans for the future with him, unless O'Neal can somehow stay consistant and play like his days with the Lakers. Wade is still young, but the Heats roster is full of old (but good) players.<u>ON THE BRIDGE</u>Chicago BullsI know they are young and athletic, they just fcuked up on signing Ben Wallace and screws thier salary space.Cleveland CavaliersI don't know what's happenening to them, but they've got a pretty messed up roster (IN MY OPINION), but they still have James and Varejao who are young and great. They can either go up or down..San Antonio SpursWhen are they ever going to stop coming to the top? They've been up there for a while with a very similar roster (Parker, Duncan, Ginobli). They gotta stop some time..<u>BUILT FOR THE FUTURE</u>Boston CelticsThey've got a nice young group with them right now, it's fun to watch them play. They are currently last in the East, and gives them a good shot at 1st or 2nd round pick. They've gotten players like Al Jefferson who is showing his potential, Delonte West who's having his ups and downs, but is starting to show what he can really do, and Rajon Rondo who only seems to be having his best games against the Raptors.Charlotte BobcatsBobcats got some nice young players right now and they are looking into going in the '07 draft with lots of prospected players. They are going into that season with alot of free agent players and alot of cap space.Los Angeles LakersThey've been bringing thier A-game all year and Kwame Brown is sure rising up. Kobe is "sharing" the ball more, but still making an impact when it comes to scoring. They've got a nice team heading for the future.Philidelphia 76ersThe 76ers traded away Iverson and got themselves cap space and young players, including the uprising Andre Iguodala who is currently the star of the team and is showing what he could do while AI was there.Phoniex SunsWhoever the GM was for the Suns was a brilliant, leaving them with plenty of draft picks for the '07 draft and young players. Suns will be on top for a long while..Portland TrailblazersUhm.. have no idea to say.Toronto RaptorsRaptors got 9 new players this year and made a nice turnaround in thier statistics, adding players such as Bargnani who is potentially the next 'Dirk', Anthony Parker who is very quiet but makes such a big impact (too bad he's 31), TJ Ford, and Chris Bosh. Raptors are sure to be a threat in the future if not now.
The Bulls, Cavaliers, Raptors and Magic will be having the best future IMO. Bulls already have a solid squad but their players could still use a couple more years of development and playoff experience before they're a title contender.Cavaliers have LeBron and a couple of good young players such as Varejao as Nam stated. With LeBron on your team and a healthy Larry Hughes, you always have a good chance to win every game.Raptors and Magic, both are doing pretty well in the east so far right now but need a few years to maybe reel in a big FA signing and let their young players get the feel of the NBA. Magic are looking real solid so far with Jameer and Dwight, Raptors with Bargani, Josh and Ford.
