TheNetsFan wrote:gigantes wrote:Please.
Let's be real, dude--
We're not anywhere NEAR being a contender, and wasting our amazing draft capital just to maintain this overcompensation, deal...?
Or, look at it this way--
Sean Marks has never had the chance to use his most amazing skill of all (i.e. talent evaluation) on top draft picks.
Well, looky here-- and NOW we have a bunch of unique opportunities, coming up.
And you guys are telling me that you've learned nothing across the years, and you're happy to keep blowing trade capital to overcompensate a problematic roster?
*&^@#(*!$*
Yeah, Lucas Kaplan is saying what OKC & HOU fans have been saying across the years.
Something wrong with that..?
I DON'T THINK SO.
Who saying to blow trade capital to overcompensate a problematic roster? What are the main problems on this roster? PG & PF. Upgrading those spots is not overcompensating, but it is addressing the weaknesses. I also didn't say go blow everything on Lillard or somebody else of the ilk. I did say just staying the course, keeping the Bridges-Clax-Johnson trio and having max cap space in '25 is perhaps the most viable option. You have the opportunity to bring in a star to go along with those 3, and you maintain your pick trove (the majority of which are '25 or later) for using or trading for another star. Getting a star on the relatively cheap where you can maintain the majority of the picks is also a viable option. The only thing we shouldn't do is blow the majority of our assets on a single player right now (unless that player is MVP caliber).
There's no reason to sell off guys just entering or not yet approaching their primes for more picks. Do that & you're likely looking at a minimum of 6 seasons before even possibly making noise in the playoffs, and that's if things go well. Even if you lucked into 3 future MVPs in the upcoming drafts the way OKC did with KD, Harden & Westbrook, it still took 4 years before they got to the Conference Finals, and expecting to draft 3 players of that caliber back to back to back is a fools errand (especially when you don't have the ability to tank & control your own pick).
Build from here. No need to tear apart a core that's currently 23, 26 & 26 for picks.
Hey, man-- first of all, sorry for coming in somewhat heated and (maybe pedantic?), there.
That was a bit disrespectful.
TBH I loved the Lucas Kaplan article, and it's been frustrating thinking about (as he points out himself), that we're probably
NOT going to do the smart thing[*] here, and instead will likely cater to Tsai wanting a good team here sooner rather than later.
[*] and yes, that's certainly just an opinion
And yes, I get what you're saying about full rebuilding processes naturally taking some time. The idea of being willing to wait for years & years before having a theoretical contender is a big ask of the fans, for sure.
Then again-- 1) is that really such a terrible thing when it probably gives us the best chance to field the strongest contender, unlike the last two disastrous attempts to spend too many picks & capital taking shortcuts?; 2) we're already in an advantageous position in terms of picks, and currently have an opportunity to add to that stash, and you can bet your bippy that would give us a significant jump-start in rebuilding, like NOP is already experiencing, and doubtless OKC & HOU will be enjoying as well, very soon.
And sure, we only need to patch some holes and switch some assets around to be a significantly more sound team next season. But still, that's likely just to move from a fringe PO team to a low PO team. It's what any team would do in our shoes, and isn't special.
The thing is, for a little while now, we have a unique opportunity to cash in any of at least four valued assets to bring our stock of picks closer to the elite / unique level the three teams above enjoy. For example:
CamJ-- He's 27yo, and I don't know that his ceiling is really going to get much higher. He's not really an athletic specimen, doesn't have special length, and his main skill (shooting) is nice, but nowhere near irreplaceable.
DFS-- Already 30yo, he has some value around the league, and probably doesn't fit our timeline.
Bridges-- He'll be 27yo by the start of next season, and while definitely a #2 or #3 player, sometime between now and the next couple years, he may be worth a fortune in picks to some team that likes him. Is it really a good idea to pass up that kind of haul when we have one of the smartest-drafting GM's in the league?
Clax-- He's 24yo, and we all love him, but he's not a stretch big, and gets pushed around by some other bigs inside. Still, he's arguably the greatest, most versatile bigman defender in the league, and I assume there are teams who would almost kill to get him if they could.
Of course, I don't really believe that more than ~one of these guys are going to get moved, but that's also what makes me kinda sad-- the fact that collectively they are probably vastly more valuable converted to picks than they are, trying to construct a contender.
I don't disagree with you at all that we'll probably try to fill in the blanks as possible, and nab a star where we can. But I also have little confidence that it will lead to anything much more than just a 'playoff team,' and TBH, I'm not sure that the body of Nets fans has really learned anything from the twin disasters of the last ~ten years. Fans are still just as impatient as ever.
Also, let's not forget that during the wasteland "bridge" years, we had absolutely nothing to look forward to in the short term. No assets, and no way to get immediately better, and Marks even wound up proving that it's possible to 'out-clever yourself' by tanking your own picks when they *finally* came back around.
I still believe Kaplan is mostly right on the money, and that we're headed towards missing a major opportunity by trying to pivot too quickly, here.
We've had almost a decade now of seeing what happens when you take falling stars and try to use them as the engine of a title team. Unless it's LeBron or prime KG, it just... doesn't work.
So for the time being, Marks has a major opportunity to make some trades in order to pick a slew of homegrown talent, which is generally how you build a title team (and even a dynasty). Just like NOP, OKC & HOU, I want him to blow the doors open on that possibility, and let his greatest talent shine for us.
To be clear-- I don't believe Tsai will actually approve that plan, though, and instead will fall right back in to the classic 'NYC / major market' self-destructive trap.