Well that's who is winning championships right now. The Wizards drafted Wall. The Clips drafted Griffin. The Pels drafted Davis. The Pistons drafted Drummond. The Warriors drafted Curry, Klay, and Green.
I was kinda saying it tounge-in-cheek.. I forget about Harkless sometimes, but he's solid. If Plumlee is within a certain context or frame for his shot, then okay. Vonleh needs to focus more on his defense and post up game at this point... I could see us giving him more opportunity to post up later in the year. At least, I hope.
Washington is winning a championship? The Clips are winning a championship? The Pels are winning a championship? The Pistons are winning a championship? When? I just checked and none of these teams have won in a decade. Aren't the Pels in the running for the lotto? Playing antagonist here because I get what your saying. I get it. I just don't agree or think your that on the mark with it. Now lets look at teams who had a lotto, garnered a superstar that player never won, but moved on to win elsewhere. MINNI: Kevin Garnett Orlando: Shaq Cleveland: LBJ(* because he may win yet) These are just a few of the many. There are arguements for both sides I think. Both valid.
You said the other guys were from a long time ago. I'm listing some of the best young players in the league. And the Magic had a legit shot at winning a championship. That team was amazing with Penny and Shaq.
Understood, but doesn't that remain to be seen? These new guys can very well be traded or sign to another team before winning. Quite a stretch to say they are winning a championship in my opinion.
My point is, someone has to draft these guys, and we are not known to be a free agent destination. So we either draft them or trade for them.
And I guess my point is, Id much rather win 40 games and make a trade for said player over wining 10 games and drafting a possibility. Doesnt mean I need to wake up.
This is such an obvious point, it just amazes me no one gets it. You can't sign a FA unless they are willing. You can't make a good trade unless another team screws up. Draft day is the only time a GM actually has complete control over his own fate. If you don't trust your GM on draft day - you shouldn't trust them at all.
Nearly, 20 games in. The only guys here I see as potential starters are Plums and maybe Meyers. You think any of these guys will turn into stars? Or build up enough value to draw a star in trade?
And they conveniently forget that our recent resurgence (both times) were on the backs of Roy/Aldridge and Dame/Aldridge. Where did those players come from? Aldridge #2 overall draft pick. Roy #6 overall draft pick. Dame #6 overall draft pick. While we traded for all three picks, they were still Blazer rookies. We didn't sign them as free agents, and in the case of Roy and Aldridge, we only traded up a couple spots to get them.
Any plan that relies on Vonleh being our 2nd star is a bad plan. That's not to say he can't become that player, but it absolutely should NOT be part of the plan. He looks AWFUL right now. Like Ha Seung-jin awful. We need a big SG or SF to be our "2nd" (or 1st) star. Until we get that player we won't be going anywhere. Otherwise I think we're set up fairly well: PG - Duh PF - Don't need anything flashy here. With the right roster Ed Davis could be fine, though it'd be nice if he could extend his range to 15' and put on some muscle. When we first got him I thought he was bigger than he actually is, so his size is a little disappointing. If he can become Udonis Haslem he could be a fine starter. C - We'll see how the rest of the season goes, but I still think both Plumlee and Meyers are capable of being starting Cs. Obviously if Davis is our PF then Plumlee doesn't work quite as well. Back-up SG - Still think CJ is best suited to this role. And he'd be a damn good 6th man! Back-up SF - Either Harkless or Aminu would be good back-up SFs, with Harkless as a dark horse starting SF (but I wouldn't plan on it). Back-up PF - Aminu could also be a back-up PF, but this should be an easy position to fill regardless. Back-up C - Either Plumlee or Meyers. The obvious gaping holes in our roster are back-up PG, and starting wings. With how many great PGs there are I'm not worried about back-up PG - that'll get addressed. That just leaves starting wings as the key pieces that we're missing. Given that there's very little wing talent in the league the best place to find those missing pieces is in the draft.
I enjoy your takes. I agree that CJ should come off the bench. Much more tailored for that role. Who would be a good starting SG that's reasonable, though? That's the issue. We just don't have one. (CJ is doable, thankfully.)
That's the problem - there aren't any reasonable scenarios for a good starting SG. And that's why, for the moment, CJ is a fine starter. But once the team starts coming together CJ will either have to be shifted to the bench or used in a trade. Until that happens I'm happy with him starting.
How's this for a realistic comparison: Vonleh reminds me of Oden, but without being able to physically dominate anyone. The other one is: he reminds me of a Jerm as a Blazer, but not as good...and Jerm was BAD as a Blazer. Sure, Oden would have been great if he could have stayed healthy, but aside from dominating guys due to his size Oden was painful to watch. And sure, eventually Jerm became very good. But Noah doesn't look like successful Jerm, or hypothetical Oden - he looks like clueless Jerm and awkward Oden. Basically, Vonleh is awful right now. And just for shits'n'giggles I ran a comparison against Ha:
