winforlose wrote:Note30 wrote:younggunsmn wrote:We're done. Not just now but for the next 7 years at least.
It's only going to get worse as the teams that didn't trade away all their future assets keep getting better and better.
It's 2005 repeating itself all over again.
Kings at the end of a 2 week road trip and just traded away their best player.
We're not only going to miss the playoffs, we're going to finish below .500, calling it now.
When your 1st year player on a 2 way is the only guy on the entire team intelligent enough to keep the ballhandler off of the spot they want to get to you have a team full of really dumb players.
Anthony Edwards got hunted mercilessly all game long.
The got to the middle of the paint easy peasy all game long, it was ridiculous.
We are completely **** for 3 years. We can semi-tank in 2027-2028.
2028-Our own pick,2029 and 2031-no pick, 2030-Swap.
We can't get off Rudy's contract until the end of 27/28 season - not to mention it's going to pretty untradeable.
Honestly we may have to trade Ant in the 27/28 season to start a full rebuild.
We just don't have the assets or cap space, and our ability to hit FAs is not going to from signing PJ Dozier to being able to suddenly attract Giannis.
Start fresh in 2027/2028 and bleed for two to three years after.
Can we finally all agree TC is a terrible GM or are we just going to keep pretending we're doing amazing, and the moves that led us here were also great?
In the interim, trade Randle and all the other useless **** for any win now talent that expires at the end of the 2027 season. Be completely clean on the cap sheets except Rudy and Ant by the begining of the 2027/2028 season.
I think you are correct that TC is a horrible GM, and I think that he has done us serious harm with the KAT trade. That said I disagree with much of the rest of your analysis.
1. Ant is not even 24, (his birthday is in August.) Ant will of course get better.
2. Jaden has just delivered back to back 22+ point games. His shooting is inconsistent from deep, but he is getting to the line and making his free throws. Jaden also happens to be 24 and not in his prime. Oh, and his rebounding is up to 5.4 per game, and climbing. For a SF, that is excellent, and I would not be surprised to see that number at 6 or 6.5 this season and 7 or higher next season.
3. Naz just dropped 30 last night. His offense is excellent even without a proper PG. Imagine him with one. Remember how much JMAC made an impact on Naz. When Dilly develops you may well have that again.
4. Gobert is very tradable on his new deal. I can think of 6 teams off hand including the Rockets, Thunder, Pels, and Knicks who would want him. I do agree we should trade him, but that new contract isn’t as poisonous as you make it sound.
5. DDV has it in him to be a 6th man of the year. His shooting and attacking skills are very real. His defense is above average, and his age is only 28 (just turned,) which means he has 3 or 4 more years in his prime. You caught a glimpse of his upside before the injury.
6. Dilly and Shannon both have high upside. Don’t get lost in the rookie season of it all. Shannon could replace NAW sooner than you think, and Dilly could be the love child of Garland and Kyrie. Of course they may both flop, but it is way to early to write them off.
You also forget that the cap is increasing every year by 10%. In 2026 we could easily have enough space to bring in someone of value, just not at 50+. Then again, max contracts are becoming less common. Good quality players will be pushed into the 30s, and that is something we will be able to afford if not in 26/27, then in 27/28. This team still has a ton of upside and time will help. We are from blow it up and start, over. Which is great because we don’t control our picks except for 28, until 2032.
1. We realistically have about 2 more seasons after this one before Ant has the leverage to start forcing his way out.
2. I'll give you Jaden's improvement the last 2 months has been the lone bright spot.
3. Naz will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and if Julius opts in there is no way we can re-sign him without going into the tax.
4. NOBODY WANTS GOBERTS CONTRACT BUT US. If he were a car he would be a model from the '70s that nobody makes any more.
37 mil a year for a defense only player is unpalatable for anyone in this era.
5. DDV his a nice role player on a nice contract that we only have under contract for 2 years after this one, which is realistically one more season before we have to make a decision on whether we want to trade him for value or lose him for nothing.
Fast Forward to summer 2027:
Ant 2 years remaining on his deal and teams circling like sharks for a trade opportunity.
Jaden 2 years remaining
Naz gone for nothing
Julius gone for nothing
DDV unrestricted FA and gone for nothing
Gobert 38 million player option and just turned 35.
Dilly and Shannon in the final year of their rookie deals and either flopped or are about to get expensive.
25 and 27 first round picks lost to Utah and 26 possibly swapped (looks like it will only be possible within the top 8 though).
And other business factors:
New ownership who didn't buy the team at 1/25th of what its now worth who may or may not want to pay ANY luxury tax.
Region Sports Network contract over/broken and the revenue from that substantially less than it is now.
Cap only increased 4% last year. Ant and Jaden's raises are 8%. It's not going up 10% every single year.
The team in a couple years is basically going to be Ant, Jaden, Dilly, Shannon, an old Gobert and whatever we can sign for the MLE in 2026 and 2027.
