TrueLAfan wrote:madmaxmedia wrote:Clemenza wrote:I know we have a ton of players but we gotta get these two involved somehow. Maybe slowly but respectfully phase out Reggie and Batum for starters. Doubt it but man, the kids need to get some playing time. Just think, they'd get at least 25-30 minutes if they were on the Lakers
I want to see Brandon slowly get some burn, but it's not going to come out of our point guards' time. It's going to come out of Coffey's time, which currently is almost none anyway (and that's with Kawhi out!)
Collectively as a team though, we do need some young (athletic) legs on the floor.
If Diabate can play fundamentally sound basketball at AC (regardless of numbers), I think he will get some minutes in the big floor at some point this year.
100% agree with the last post. Again, our biggest team issue is--too many players. Coffey is an NBA player, maybe even an NBA rotation level player. He's a 20-25 mpg player on a bad team, and a 12-15 mpg player on a good team. He's playing half of that now, even with Kawhi out. Unless we move a player ot wo, Boston won't get any burn.
And, tbh, the type of guy we want to get for whatever players we move is a long PF/C. Diabate may be that guy long term; we still need someone now. (Our rebounding numbers are .. bad.) My money is on a deal getting made with either the Kings or Magic. They've got our SG/Sf issue in the frontcourt--too many players. The Kings have Trey Lyles, Chimezie Metu, and Richaun Holmes splitting 29 mpg--and Alex Len literally never gets on the court. With the Magic, Mo Bamba is playing less than 13 mpg, and Jonathan Isaac and Mo Wagner are (IMO) being held back for medical reasons. Any of those guys would help us, some more than others.
Agree: i like boston and i'm happy to see the young guys get some burn, but only when it calls for it. And i think all too often that sentiment can be a too-quick reaction to certain losses or players not playing great. Like, cmon, this is sports: players are gonna be kinda really bad sometimes and look washed, but unless they were signed by doc rivers himself (they weren't), i think we should give the front office and lue a little bit of patience and credit here.
You know who looked like he shoulda been playing in the g-league a couple weeks ago? Powell. You know who looked like he shoulda been starting for the lakers not too long ago? Reggie. And going long term, you know who my favorite target was last year but looks like a totally revitalized guy this time around? Marcus morris. Like, i thought he was total junk but looking at things now it's clear the FO and team saw something that i certainly did not. I'm willing to give the team the benefit of the doubt instead of just wanting to very quickly shift over to some super unproven guys.
But it's not just that: these guys were second rounders for a reason and the team that's assembled is the way it is, for a reason. Boston and diabete are very young and very raw, despite what they might be doing in what is a far less competitive league, and the varsity team needs to do everything it can to get the key vets into fighting form. So far it's happened with powell, reggie is coming around, and i expect batum/covington to do the same as well. Do we have needs? Yeah, sure, but boston is certainly not going to solve them, and diabate is going to need to show a LOT of growth for that to even happen. And in a real NBA game i don't see lue giving him those minutes at the risk of preparing what is the likely playoff roster by the end of the season.
Anyway all that is all kinda besides what i actually wanted to bring up in the first place. I think bamba is kinda intriguing, and while the kings have a buncha guys who could be useful, i'm a little reticent to trade within the division, especially to a team that is probably not that far off from figuring some things out. I mean i'd still be confident our team fully healthy would bop the kings without much fanfare, but i wonder aloud about other alternatives that might cause us less potential damage, is all.
