yoyojw17 wrote:Not sure if Joe will be back. I think room will be made for other players.... or he does return and will hit the 3rd string and be ready to just help the team grow from the shadows.
But I agree with you... this will not be the biggest and flashiest of off-seasons and I am going to be fine with that too. We have to re-up on a lot of these players soon... and having that available wiggle room will be important if they already love where we are going.
And also agreed. I don't think Jetts defense is as bad as it is assumed. From what I understood.... defense was more of his skill coming into college... and in college offense was just his main focus. Injuries played a part in his lone season.... but I believe he has the potential to play effective to great on both sides of the court.
I see goga returning as well. If you like what Claxton does.... you should also respect goga as well.... and this was just his first true season to be given a chance to impact the team. He gives a different dimension compared to Dell and Moe..... and I think there is still more to uncover. At some point one of them might have to go.... but theres no rush now before all these rookie contracts go up.
And AB.... in my opinion..... is taking a different Suggs type route. Unlike Suggs "he sucked" cuz he tried to do too much while getting accustomed to the league... AB has "sucked" because he has shown too little as he gets used to the league. Wouldn't be surprised that people will be singing a different tune even by year 2
I disagree, only because it's simply a numbers game. You're not going to have all of these guys blossoming and showing their full potential at once. It's unfortunate but it's how most teams operate and the most common path.
Paolo is the top dog, and Franz is settling in as a #2. We'll see if Paolo can be a superstar level #1 and if Franz will be a #2 or a #3 ultimately, but they will be given at least another two seasons to find that out (mostly Franz), while Suggs finds his Smart role here.
Goga is a UFA and isn't going to hang around to see if "one of them might go". Bruce Brown left a championship Denver team for more money and similar opportunity, Goga ain't staying unless he's CLEARLY in the plans as soon as next year. Teams will pay him.
Speaking of the bigs, Isaac will probably be a priority if he can end the season healthy and have a future with him either as our starting center or getting at least 25 minutes off of the bench. WCJ is in a weird position but a good contract, while Moe's brother is here and give us a dimension off of the bench that no other big can do, even if his defense is bad.
So that's at least 6 positions of guys with playing time (Suggs, Isaac, Franz, Paolo, Moe, WCJ or Goga). Cole's contract means he's probably staying and he fits the 6th man role, but he can be traded too.
So that's 7 rotation guys out of 10. 9 out of 10 with Jett and AB. If you're not bringing back Fultz and Harris and you're replacing them with Black and Jett, it means we're bringing back the same team again with the same issues. I don't think that is a likely scenario either.
This team is going to need to make some decisions over the next year or two which why I'm ultimately fine with them being patient this year and previous years, but you can see the dilemma here.
We're ahead of schedule, which means we're going to start moving at the rate of which Paolo/Franz/Suggs/Isaac/etc take us, not waiting for AB and Jett to get up to speed to maybe become replacement level guys.
And that means probably hunting a free agent or two to fill needs - or finding someone in a trade... which again, means that there is a battle for those 9-10 spots of playing time. I think one of AB or Jett is more likely to be trade bait than get consistent minutes moving forward on this team depending on the players available, the same way Jaime Jaquez or Herro were being rumored for the Heat wanting Lillard.
Also, guys needing to re-up is exactly why you want to find guys this offseason if possible or before the big contracts come. Sign free agents and then you can extend guys, not the other way around. That's where you create a situation like the Suns having to fill their roster with 3rd stringers.
