Could we become Finals contenders?

[Rockmaninoff]

With Rubio, and a Varejao or a Gortat, sky's the limit.

[skorff26]

No one on Detroit was considered elite before they won the championship. Ben Wallace was the closest thing at the time, but you can't be an elite player when you only play one end of the floor. He was an elite defender and the best at what he does, but if he was an elite player then so was Bruce Bowen...which is false.

I agree that no one on the Detroit team is an elite superstar, but they are all borderline all-stars (Don't quote me on this but I think all 5 of them have played in an all-star game at some point). Also that Detroit team may have been one of the best defensive teams of all time, all 5 are above average defenders (Wallace was the best defender in the game at that time) and if I remember right Prince played some stellar D.
As for Boston, I think Allen, Pierce, and KG were all all-stars the year that they won it. Rondo stepped it up in the playoffs and played stellar as well, also all 5 of their starters are solid defenders as well.

-I think if we really luck out, we could end up with 5 borderline all-star players; but w/o an elite star you need to play amazing defense and I don't see our roster being able to do that

[eyeteeth]

Two or three years from now, Beasley could be an elite scoring talent. He has the raw materials in terms of ball-handling, jumpshooting and athleticism. It's important to keep in mind that he is only entering his third year and is arguably 3 years away from his prime.

Also, this year's additions are clearly aimed at building a serious defense. Whether that develops or not remains to be seen, of course, but our current weakest position is PG (healthy Jonny Flynn, can he play D is an open question), and Rubio is an excellent defender. And 2nd biggest liability is Love, who will hopefully improve somewhat on his own, but will also almost certainly benefit from playing next to a legitimate defensive center in Darko and also benefit from the improved perimeter D that will come from our all new squadron of long wing players. The team needs to totally start over in terms of chemistry and attitude on D, so it's a huge mystery right now. However, I see the glass as half full on this.

It's not a slam dunk, but the team right now has many of the right parts of a foundation to compete at the highest levels in 3-4 years. We will probably need to add another elite player via trade or free agency to really arrive, but we should be a far more attractive destination in a few years than maybe the team ever has been.