Season Speculation, Trade Ideas & Discussion Pt. 5

[Frank Lee]

Im still in shock that i saw a Frank post advocating tanking.

.........

What else can we do but play out the year with who/what we have ? If thats tanking, then, well, find me a seat. Any deal made now can surely wait till the official off season. Besides, it would be a McDesparation move and we'd risk another MonkeyF-er. In the mean time.....

We have nothing to lose by losing. Boom Boom Boom

[darealjuice]

Im still in shock that i saw a Frank post advocating tanking.

.........

What else can we do but play out the year with who/what we have ? If thats tanking, then, well, find me a seat. Any deal made now can surely wait till the official off season. Besides, it would be a McDesparation move and we'd risk another MonkeyF-er. In the mean time.....

We have nothing to lose by losing. Boom Boom Boom

FRANK THE TANK! FRANK THE TANK! We’re going streaking!!!!

[bwgood77]

Im still in shock that i saw a Frank post advocating tanking.

.........

What else can we do but play out the year with who/what we have ? If thats tanking, then, well, find me a seat. Any deal made now can surely wait till the official off season. Besides, it would be a McDesparation move and we'd risk another MonkeyF-er. In the mean time.....

We have nothing to lose by losing. Boom Boom Boom

FRANK THE TANK! FRANK THE TANK! We’re going streaking!!!!

Nice reference catch (and nice by Frank to throw it out there to go with the name)....I would have likely glossed over it had you not mentioned something which would have been an awful miss.

[lilfishi22]

Im still in shock that i saw a Frank post advocating tanking.

.........

What else can we do but play out the year with who/what we have ? If thats tanking, then, well, find me a seat. Any deal made now can surely wait till the official off season. Besides, it would be a McDesparation move and we'd risk another MonkeyF-er. In the mean time.....

We have nothing to lose by losing. Boom Boom Boom

What an appropriate gif

[hollywood6964]

Love it

[batsmasher]

Me wonders what Bogdan(^2)ovic would look like starting next to Booker right about now.......

[NavLDO]

I'd still like to see what these guys could do in a traditional development scenario. Someone, anyone (because I'm not going to do the research to find the answer), tell me when the last time...or heck, if ever, a GM spent two top 10 picks on two under 20, highly-developmental players who played the same position, then tell me who they were, and how they both turned out to be great players...because surely McD must have had some type of blueprint to go off of when he decided to go that direction.

Seriously, all three of those guys are doomed...Chriss, Bender, and JJ. They're all going to fail. NOT because they aren't good enough, but because they are in an impossible situation. You've finally broken me down, Frank (well, not you...McD has done it with his dumb approach to team building), but I'm on the dump McD bandwagon the day after the Trade Deadline is over, if he has not traded one of the 2 PFs, and one of Warren or JJ.

Stupid waste of a 4th overall pick...TWO YEARS IN A ROW!!! Amazing, actually. I'm ok with 'sucking' the rest of the season, but then play JJ, and play Chriss or Bender...again (beating that dead horse)...Pick one! Really is a waste of draft picks if they don't start developing these kids, and letting Warren believe he's our starter of the future? That's a Dragic scenario waiting to happen again once he's 'sat' in favor of JJ.

I know you ignore the "positionless" basketball thing and the fact that you need 8 or so rotation players playing major minutes and who starts isn't always the most important....but...

The Celtics drafted SF Jaylen Brown #3. The following year they drafted SF Jayson Tatum #3, signed SF Gordon Hayward to a max and traded for SF Marcus Morris who often starts.

They all seem to be progressing fairly well. Hayward's injured, but given you wanted an example of two high lottery picks being drafted who play the same position there is one.

Funny thing is, in 2014 they took PG Marcus Smart #6 and then the next year they took PG Terry Rozier #16 and even traded for IT the same year. They all played quite a bit. They also had combo guard Avery Bradley in there. They still had those two young rookie contract PGs when trading for all star Kyrie Irving.

That team worked out ok and all their players seem to develop fairly well.


Also, you mentioned something about Brooklyn being in a dilemma. They want to start Dinwiddie and Russell together....I posted articles and links yesterday...they say Dinwiddie being 6'6 can guard any 2s...and Russell is great and sometimes better off ball.

I know you like to ignore reality, but Smart and Rozier is far from what I, or anyone else would call, 'developed properly', unless you consider a Guard in his 4th season shooting a career .356/.292(3PT) is what you call (developed). Jaylen Brown was a 2/3 coming in that played the 3 last year, not very much, mind you, and not very well, and was moved to the 2 this year for Tatum, and is playing full time, and, voila' is playing much better on a full time basis, rather than the part time basis he was playing last year. And Tatum is playing full time this year, starting, and looky there, is developing nicely.

Just because the Celtics are good because they now have Kyrie Irving...you know, the PG you didn't want last summer, because you didn't want to trade for our uber-awesome SF that's not getting starter minutes, unless Warren is hurt? And were good last year because IT blew up into an All-Star...don't confuse having an actual decent PG leading the team with some half developed scrubs as to why they are good.

Make no mistake; the Celtics are good because of Irving, Horford, Tatum, and now, Brown (with full starter minutes at the 2)...not because Smart and Rozier were developed properly using 'positionless basketball'. And they were good last year due to IT, Bradley, Crowder, and Horford--again, not due to how Rozier and Smart were expertly developed using 'positionless basketball', or whatever the heck your point is.

The fact is, Brown was a 2/3, that moved to 2, and not until he got starter minutes, did he start playing 'well'.
Smart was a 1/2, that, well, just isn't very good.
Rozier is a passable back-up/bench player.
Tatum is playing his natural position of 3, and is starting and developing nicely.
Oh, and they have an All-Star PG leading them.

Hayward is out, as you stated. If he wasn't, would Tatum be getting his minutes? You are trying to argue a point with a hollow example, but nice try. My assertion that these guys need full-time starter minutes with a decent PG still stands.

[gaspar]

Me wonders what Bogdan(^2)ovic would look like starting next to Booker right about now.......

Or Jamal Murray. But everyone kept telling me that he's too similar to Booker, like it's a bad thing.

[Fo-Real]

Me wonders what Bogdan(^2)ovic would look like starting next to Booker right about now.......

Or Jamal Murray. But everyone kept telling me that he's too similar to Booker, like it's a bad thing.

De'Aaron Fox is my wonder.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

If we had any of these players we'd still be getting our butts kicked and we'd be pining for the other players we didn't take.

[Qwigglez]

Me wonders what Bogdan(^2)ovic would look like starting next to Booker right about now.......

Or Jamal Murray. But everyone kept telling me that he's too similar to Booker, like it's a bad thing.

De'Aaron Fox is my wonder.

Kyrie Irving for me.

[ATTL]

Or Jamal Murray. But everyone kept telling me that he's too similar to Booker, like it's a bad thing.

De'Aaron Fox is my wonder.

Kyrie Irving for me.

Andre igoudala and rondo for me.

[RunDogGun]

If we had any of these players we'd still be getting our butts kicked and we'd be pining for the other players we didn't take.

Possibly, there should have been a bit more of a plan going into the season. It seems clear that there was talks of trading Bledsoe in the offseason, and with past issues with point guards and placating their egos, there should have been a better plan B other than starting Ulis, who clearly isn’t ready to be a starter in this league.

I think many of us have given up on Knight returning to his production in Milwaukee when he comes back.

I don’t want to judge Jackson yet, and it’s a bummer that Reed had that injury before we could see him get minutes on the floor. With Warren already grabbing the starting sf, and with all the injuries to our guards, and Bledsoe complete lack of interest to play here in PHX, has caused many questions on whether we chose correctly in the draft. Any one of those things going differently probably would have changed many people’s minds. If Bledsoe came out ready to win could have sparked our young team. A healthy Reed, and him and Booker next to each other, could have made us feel ok with not having a true point guard.

All we can hope now is that our young team stays hungry even in loses, and we develop a system where those young guys flourish and know their role within that system.

[darealjuice]

De'Aaron Fox is my wonder.

Kyrie Irving for me.

Andre igoudala and rondo for me.

My guy was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

[bwgood77]

If we had any of these players we'd still be getting our butts kicked and we'd be pining for the other players we didn't take.

Yeah, not feeling any of those guys. None have impressed, at least not consistently, and mostly, if at all, just sporadically. I never thought Murray was like Booker. Reminded me more of Knight. Then of course Fox can't shoot.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

If we had any of these players we'd still be getting our butts kicked and we'd be pining for the other players we didn't take.

Yeah, not feeling any of those guys. None have impressed, at least not consistently, and mostly, if at all, just sporadically. I never thought Murray was like Booker. Reminded me more of Knight. Then of course Fox can't shoot.

I mean, we're complaining that if Dragan doesn't develop, he just becomes Channing Frye with better defense. That's like the ideal 4 in the modern NBA, and I've seen plenty of complaints around here that we failed to retain him after he and Dragic (and Gerald Green) carried us to 48 wins in 14-15. I think he's got a ways to go, but if that's his floor, it's hard to complain.

This is a gangly 20-year-old we're talking about here. Channing Frye didn't become a rotation NBA player until his mid-20s. Give me a break. What did people think we were getting when we decided to rebuild through the draft?

[bwgood77]

If we had any of these players we'd still be getting our butts kicked and we'd be pining for the other players we didn't take.

Yeah, not feeling any of those guys. None have impressed, at least not consistently, and mostly, if at all, just sporadically. I never thought Murray was like Booker. Reminded me more of Knight. Then of course Fox can't shoot.

I mean, we're complaining that if Dragan doesn't develop, he just becomes Channing Frye with better defense. That's like the ideal 4 in the modern NBA, and I've seen plenty of complaints around here that we failed to retain him after he and Dragic (and Gerald Green) carried us to 48 wins in 14-15. I think he's got a ways to go, but if that's his floor, it's hard to complain.

This is a gangly 20-year-old we're talking about here. Channing Frye didn't become a rotation NBA player until his mid-20s. Give me a break. What did people think we were getting when we decided to rebuild through the draft?

As far as I'm concerned, he's developed quite a bit since last year. I think people pine for other guys sometimes because they obsess about offense, even while sometimes ignoring efficiency and ignore the need for defense.

Bender's used to getting the hate though...

Phoenix Suns Forward Dragan Bender is not even old enough to vote. At times, he's felt like the most hated person in Arizona.

The Suns fourth overall pick in the 2016 draft struggled in year one. Missing time with an ankle injury, Bender was an easy target for criticism shooting only 35 percent, 27 percent from three, 36 percent from the free throw line.

"Everyone whose top five to ten that has a chip on its back as a professional must be able to trust yourself, trust your instincts to play in this league," said Bender.

A period of struggling and self-reflection where listening and learning was pivotal.

"I was playing well when I had my chance. I went down with an injury. They gave me the inside on how I need to take care of myself part of being a professional," said Bender.

Never doubting himself, now twenty, Bender has improved in every category. Bender gave a glimpse of his first round draft potential, scoring a career high 20 points on a personal best six three-pointers in the win over Oklahoma City.

"I always knew I could play in the NBA. I'm a big guy who can shoot, can defend. My place is here, I just needed my chance."

"He's got a lot more comfort now with where he is right now and what he's suppose to do. His basketball IQ is very high, so he can figure things out pretty quick," said Suns interim Coach Jay Triano.

http://www.azfamily.com/story/37264089/suns-dragan-bender-turning-the-corner

[JMac1]

I want Trae Young....I don’t dwell on the what if’s because it’s about the what is. Lakers pick and trade for Chriss is hindsight....who cares.

I like Bender a lot for some reason. Maybe because he is so young and his shot is pure and I think in 2-3 years at 22 or 23 years of age, he will be a better Channing Frye.

I love what I’m seeing from Jackson and TJ.

Booker?!...lmao!

Pair a 23 year old Jackson and Bender with 24 year old Booker and TJ and if we make out like a bandit in this draft....who gives a flying **** about our past dumb decisions.

As long as Booker is showing Kobesqe game at 21....we ain’t too far away.

How many bunnies did Josh miss last night? He can get to the rim and is a tough dude...I love he and Books attitude. Growth!!!

[LukasBMW]

We should trade for Rondo.

[TeamTragic]

Im still in shock that i saw a Frank post advocating tanking.

.........

What else can we do but play out the year with who/what we have ? If thats tanking, then, well, find me a seat. Any deal made now can surely wait till the official off season. Besides, it would be a McDesparation move and we'd risk another MonkeyF-er. In the mean time.....

We have nothing to lose by losing. Boom Boom Boom

Rule #1: There is no Tank Club #TIMELINE