Masai Presser Live @ 11am

[WuTang_CMB]

So is Scottie a difference maker?

Didnt Booker lead a team to the **** finals when his running mates were CP3 and Ayton?

He did. What happened this year with KD?

You're running on a bad take. We are not trading him for Booker lol. If you want to trade Barnes, you trade him for Giannis. Booker is a premier talent no doubt but he aint Giannis and if you are going to trade your young franchise player, no matter what you think about him, you do it for a top 5 player in the nba. Not to mention, Masai is super patient... just because we draft Flagg is not going to make him knee jerk into moving Barnes

MIL isn't trading Giannis for Barnes unless we land Flagg and he's included in the trade. The only reason anyone might think we can get Giannis (or even Booker for that matter) for Barnes is on the belief that Barnes will become a "franchise player" like you said because Barnes isn't that today.

But Booker is also an example of someone who didn't improve much after his 4th year. Even in 2022, his First Team All-NBA year, his performance metrics was not all that better than other years past his 4th season. If Barnes follows a similar career path, it may indeed be time to trade him while the belief of his "potential" (to some) is still high. But I doubt Phoenix is buying.

If Bucks are shopping Giannis, Toronto would be in the mix by putting Barnes, young players and picks on the table. No where did i say it’s a definite deal, just if some weird situation Toronto was going to move Barnes after landing Flagg, that’s the approach they should take, not Booker, who doesn’t even come close to Giannis.

[PushDaRock]

We went all in and got Brandon Ingram who in his entire tenure did not make New Orleans a contender. He was just a high level role player who scored a lot but could not stay healthy. It was a move you make when you know you cannot go the slow way like Brooklyn and wait to sign the right max player. Even trading for IQ and Barrett hemmed us into a low ceiling team.

Now, this team is a locked into a core for two years and we are at best a 7 seed. I am more inclined to think we are Chicago Bulls level where we get bounced on a play-in game. My only hope is we get a top two pick this year which could disrupt this mediocrity.

in what world did we go all in? we traded a projected late 2026 1st and still have all our picks. Masai have never went all in during his time here

lol yeah that's just odd considering the main complaint on here is that he doesn't go all-in by choosing optionality instead

[YogurtProducer]

Those salary projections were before he got traded here. He wanted 25m a year from the Knicks on an extension before the season when he was primarily a 6th man and didn't show much playmaking ability. There's zero chance he would have taken the same amount of money from us when he improved his stock last season both as a scorer and playmaker.

You don't have to use PER36 numbers if you don't want to but he's been fairly good as a starter in his career.

27 Starts with the Knicks: 21.7 ppg 5.0 rpg 4.9 apg on 58.9 TS%

71 Starts with the Raptors: 17.9 ppg 4.2 apg 6.3 apg on 56.7 TS%

Who else was going to pay him >25M last offseason? Raptors overpaid for him.

Right now, he's in the bottom half of starting PGs in the league. Doncic, SGA, Steph, Kyrie, Hali, Brunson, Ja, Fox, Trae, Maxey, Lillard, Lamelo, White, Jamal, Garland, Dejounte, Cade, Harden, Giddey are all ahead of him going into next season.

There are other guys that are really about team fit but may be better than him in terms of value (Suggs, FVV, Coby White, Castle). When you consider teams with multiple PGs on the roster, I think there's an argument to be made that he's in the bottom 3rd of starting PGs in the league. A very deep position in the NBA. With Raptors having 4 other guys making 20M+ - him being the 5th one doesn't make sense. He makes too much for what he provides, and I think there's a real question about his impact on winning and elevating other players. For Raptors sake, I hope there's a 'disgruntled star' where the Raps can package RJ & IQ for.

Right now, he ranks 15th in AAV among PG's. His contract is flat and other players will sign bigger deals with a rising cap that will bump him down the list as the years go on.

I don't know who else would have paid him, RFA's rarely change teams. But, I do know nickel and diming your players hasn't traditionally worked out too well either. I am saying with the rising cap projection and IQ putting in a career year, there was no way he was thinking 25m in AAV was adequate anymore. I don't think many people are saying his deal is/was a steal, only that it was about in line with what was expected.

Nobody expects this team as constructed to contend for a championship at any point, it's very high likelihood a consolidation move will happen at some point. But, they're also in talent accumulation mode right now and they're going to keep adding to that and figure out the fit and any potential need to cut salary later on.

Maybe IQ would have taken $25M on a 2 or 3 year deal to get back into FA quicker. I dont think 75/3 is a better deal than 150/5 though

[YogurtProducer]

Suggs wasn't paid more this year, he will be paid slightly more next year when his contract kicks in, but his contract is more team friendly because it goes down each year if we're using the same argument for IQ. For all this talk about cap going up and IQ becoming underpaid in the future because of his flat salary in "2028/29"; it's not like his first 4 years won't count against the cap. He underperformed/was overpaid in year 1 of his contract.

His deal is not even an overpayment RIGHT NOW. He currently is dead smack in the middle of pay among starting PGs. By the end of the deal he will be near the bottom.

lets even go with your argument he was overpaid in year 1. How does that matter going forward? If we paid IQ $22.5M instead of $32.5M it wouldn't have allowed us to sign anyone anyways. So isnt the end of the contract where it might have an impact more important anyways?

[Dalek]

We went all in and got Brandon Ingram who in his entire tenure did not make New Orleans a contender. He was just a high level role player who scored a lot but could not stay healthy. It was a move you make when you know you cannot go the slow way like Brooklyn and wait to sign the right max player. Even trading for IQ and Barrett hemmed us into a low ceiling team.

Now, this team is a locked into a core for two years and we are at best a 7 seed. I am more inclined to think we are Chicago Bulls level where we get bounced on a play-in game. My only hope is we get a top two pick this year which could disrupt this mediocrity.

in what world did we go all in? we traded a projected late 2026 1st and still have all our picks. Masai have never went all in during his time here

lol yeah that's just odd considering the main complaint on here is that he doesn't go all-in by choosing optionality instead

The cost goes beyond the trade. Ingram cost $120m around 24% of the cap and a guy who we don't know if he has chronic ankle concerns considering he is getting PRP injections.

[Clutch0z24]

People who think we can move Barnes for a Giannis level player ever is in LALA Land.....Barnes is not on that level and never will be....Good player but hes a tier below all the great players in the NBA....Hes more on that Franz Wagner tier ....Which is worlds away from the tier you think we can trade Barnes for....Atm you could prolly get a Sabonis level player in a trade for Barnes....Which would obv not be a good trade for us cause of age but thats about the level of talent he would be worth on the market.

You can hold onto him and hope he becomes a higher level player which Masai is doing....But will he ever reach that level? I have my doubts....I think hes just a really solid player that needs 2 legit stars to run with to actually compete for anything.

[PushDaRock]

in what world did we go all in? we traded a projected late 2026 1st and still have all our picks. Masai have never went all in during his time here

lol yeah that's just odd considering the main complaint on here is that he doesn't go all-in by choosing optionality instead

The cost goes beyond the trade. Ingram cost $120m around 24% of the cap and a guy who we don't know if he has chronic ankle concerns considering he is getting PRP injections.

We wouldn't have gotten him for the price we did both in what we gave up and contract given to Ingram if there wasn't risk involved.

[djsunyc]

Masai has lost his touch with team-building and he has not improved the free agent situation here since first coming. Listen to Masai versus what we hear from Sean Marks from Brooklyn:

Read on Twitter

Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks on acquiring a star: “If you’re going after max-level talent, they’ve got to automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team. This can’t be like let’s go get this and lock ourselves into being a sixth or seventh seed. When we go all in, you’re going in to compete at the highest level and contend.”

Masai in his interview: "We have to do things in a different way in the market we are in." It sounded like a defeated Masai, very different than the guy who said Toronto should believe in itself.

We went all in and got Brandon Ingram who in his entire tenure did not make New Orleans a contender. He was just a high level role player who scored a lot but could not stay healthy. It was a move you make when you know you cannot go the slow way like Brooklyn and wait to sign the right max player. Even trading for IQ and Barrett hemmed us into a low ceiling team.

Now, this team is a locked into a core for two years and we are at best a 7 seed. I am more inclined to think we are Chicago Bulls level where we get bounced on a play-in game. My only hope is we get a top two pick this year which could disrupt this mediocrity.

whatever these guys say don't matter - it's about what's being done. this is all just PR stuff b/c anything can change on a dime.

marks is almost scorched earth with his roster so why should he go after a star? he'd be carrying g-league bums. that's not our situation in the slightest. marks is the guy that blew up the entire culture of his squad of kyrie + kd and that didn't really work out too well overall.

as for guys wanting to play here - some international guys did. US guys will never. that's never going to change regardless.

[Dalek]

We went all in and got Brandon Ingram who in his entire tenure did not make New Orleans a contender. He was just a high level role player who scored a lot but could not stay healthy. It was a move you make when you know you cannot go the slow way like Brooklyn and wait to sign the right max player. Even trading for IQ and Barrett hemmed us into a low ceiling team.

Now, this team is a locked into a core for two years and we are at best a 7 seed. I am more inclined to think we are Chicago Bulls level where we get bounced on a play-in game. My only hope is we get a top two pick this year which could disrupt this mediocrity.

in what world did we go all in? we traded a projected late 2026 1st and still have all our picks. Masai have never went all in during his time here

lol yeah that's just odd considering the main complaint on here is that he doesn't go all-in by choosing optionality instead

I don't have a sense of what others on the board are thinking, but I look at this team in 2018 when we were a regular playoff team at a crossroads with taking the next step which was when Masai made the series of trades for a title shot.

Compared to now, which is a team with two consecutive 50 loss seasons. Why are we so desperate to add talent like Ingram that is mid career, injured and not an obvious difference maker. RJ and Quick are low level starters. I have come around to Poeltl as a good value contract who outperforms his cost.

We had a chance to be terrible for 2025 and 2026, during important draft years with quality prospects. We decided to go from terrible to middling which is the worst place to be in the NBA. Look at the Bulls the last three years being bounced by Miami in each play-in game.

[brwnman]

Those salary projections were before he got traded here. He wanted 25m a year from the Knicks on an extension before the season when he was primarily a 6th man and didn't show much playmaking ability. There's zero chance he would have taken the same amount of money from us when he improved his stock last season both as a scorer and playmaker.

You don't have to use PER36 numbers if you don't want to but he's been fairly good as a starter in his career.

27 Starts with the Knicks: 21.7 ppg 5.0 rpg 4.9 apg on 58.9 TS%

71 Starts with the Raptors: 17.9 ppg 4.2 apg 6.3 apg on 56.7 TS%

Who else was going to pay him >25M last offseason? Raptors overpaid for him.

Right now, he's in the bottom half of starting PGs in the league. Doncic, SGA, Steph, Kyrie, Hali, Brunson, Ja, Fox, Trae, Maxey, Lillard, Lamelo, White, Jamal, Garland, Dejounte, Cade, Harden, Giddey are all ahead of him going into next season.

There are other guys that are really about team fit but may be better than him in terms of value (Suggs, FVV, Coby White, Castle). When you consider teams with multiple PGs on the roster, I think there's an argument to be made that he's in the bottom 3rd of starting PGs in the league. A very deep position in the NBA. With Raptors having 4 other guys making 20M+ - him being the 5th one doesn't make sense. He makes too much for what he provides, and I think there's a real question about his impact on winning and elevating other players. For Raptors sake, I hope there's a 'disgruntled star' where the Raps can package RJ & IQ for.

Right now, he ranks 15th in AAV among PG's. His contract is flat and other players will sign bigger deals with a rising cap that will bump him down the list as the years go on.

I don't know who else would have paid him, RFA's rarely change teams. But, I do know nickel and diming your players hasn't traditionally worked out too well either. I am saying with the rising cap projection and IQ putting in a career year, there was no way he was thinking 25m in AAV was adequate anymore. I don't think many people are saying his deal is/was a steal, only that it was about in line with what was expected.

Nobody expects this team as constructed to contend for a championship at any point, it's very high likelihood a consolidation move will happen at some point. But, they're also in talent accumulation mode right now and they're going to keep adding to that and figure out the fit and any potential need to cut salary later on.

I'd agree with most of what you said, but I don't buy the premise that you're necessarily nickel and diming the player. Raptors paid for the potential in full; the chances of that contract returning its value is low. I would rather they pay him for production plus a little, not max potential. But I agree they had to keep him and accumulate talent and go for a big swing eventually. I can see a scenario where the contract may become a hindrance to move, so I hope the Raps move him before then.

[brwnman]

Who else was going to pay him >25M last offseason? Raptors overpaid for him.

Right now, he's in the bottom half of starting PGs in the league. Doncic, SGA, Steph, Kyrie, Hali, Brunson, Ja, Fox, Trae, Maxey, Lillard, Lamelo, White, Jamal, Garland, Dejounte, Cade, Harden, Giddey are all ahead of him going into next season.

There are other guys that are really about team fit but may be better than him in terms of value (Suggs, FVV, Coby White, Castle). When you consider teams with multiple PGs on the roster, I think there's an argument to be made that he's in the bottom 3rd of starting PGs in the league. A very deep position in the NBA. With Raptors having 4 other guys making 20M+ - him being the 5th one doesn't make sense. He makes too much for what he provides, and I think there's a real question about his impact on winning and elevating other players. For Raptors sake, I hope there's a 'disgruntled star' where the Raps can package RJ & IQ for.

Right now, he ranks 15th in AAV among PG's. His contract is flat and other players will sign bigger deals with a rising cap that will bump him down the list as the years go on.

I don't know who else would have paid him, RFA's rarely change teams. But, I do know nickel and diming your players hasn't traditionally worked out too well either. I am saying with the rising cap projection and IQ putting in a career year, there was no way he was thinking 25m in AAV was adequate anymore. I don't think many people are saying his deal is/was a steal, only that it was about in line with what was expected.

Nobody expects this team as constructed to contend for a championship at any point, it's very high likelihood a consolidation move will happen at some point. But, they're also in talent accumulation mode right now and they're going to keep adding to that and figure out the fit and any potential need to cut salary later on.

Maybe IQ would have taken $25M on a 2 or 3 year deal to get back into FA quicker. I dont think 75/3 is a better deal than 150/5 though

would have absolutely loved IQ at 3yr/75M. Good AAV, and shared risk on both sides.

[brwnman]

Suggs wasn't paid more this year, he will be paid slightly more next year when his contract kicks in, but his contract is more team friendly because it goes down each year if we're using the same argument for IQ. For all this talk about cap going up and IQ becoming underpaid in the future because of his flat salary in "2028/29"; it's not like his first 4 years won't count against the cap. He underperformed/was overpaid in year 1 of his contract.

His deal is not even an overpayment RIGHT NOW. He currently is dead smack in the middle of pay among starting PGs. By the end of the deal he will be near the bottom.

lets even go with your argument he was overpaid in year 1. How does that matter going forward? If we paid IQ $22.5M instead of $32.5M it wouldn't have allowed us to sign anyone anyways. So isnt the end of the contract where it might have an impact more important anyways?

"Why not pay IQ 45M this year then? Wouldn't allow us to sign anyone else?" These are circular irrational arguments.

His deal is not even an overpayment RIGHT NOW. He currently is dead smack in the middle of pay among starting PGs.

that would be considered overpaid since he's closer to the bottom 3rd of starting PGs in the league.

[PushDaRock]

in what world did we go all in? we traded a projected late 2026 1st and still have all our picks. Masai have never went all in during his time here

lol yeah that's just odd considering the main complaint on here is that he doesn't go all-in by choosing optionality instead

I don't have a sense of what others on the board are thinking, but I look at this team in 2018 when we were a regular playoff team at a crossroads with taking the next step which was when Masai made the series of trades for a title shot.

Compared to now, which is a team with two consecutive 50 loss seasons. Why are we so desperate to add talent like Ingram that is mid career, injured and not an obvious difference maker. RJ and Quick are low level starters. I have come around to Poeltl as a good value contract who outperforms his cost.

We had a chance to be terrible for 2025 and 2026, during important draft years with quality prospects. We decided to go from terrible to middling which is the worst place to be in the NBA. Look at the Bulls the last three years being bounced by Miami in each play-in game.

Because they are starved for talent and Ingram is an extremely talented player and they likely feel there is still some untapped potential there by changing up the way he plays in some small ways and optimizing the things he does well better.

We can debate about whether blowing up the whole thing was better or taking that RJ/IQ deal (there's arguments for both sides), but I think we got good value for OG in the end and Masai taking the deal set us down a different path. TBD if it was the right move.

[TheGeneral99]

lol yeah that's just odd considering the main complaint on here is that he doesn't go all-in by choosing optionality instead

I don't have a sense of what others on the board are thinking, but I look at this team in 2018 when we were a regular playoff team at a crossroads with taking the next step which was when Masai made the series of trades for a title shot.

Compared to now, which is a team with two consecutive 50 loss seasons. Why are we so desperate to add talent like Ingram that is mid career, injured and not an obvious difference maker. RJ and Quick are low level starters. I have come around to Poeltl as a good value contract who outperforms his cost.

We had a chance to be terrible for 2025 and 2026, during important draft years with quality prospects. We decided to go from terrible to middling which is the worst place to be in the NBA. Look at the Bulls the last three years being bounced by Miami in each play-in game.

Because they are starved for talent and Ingram is an extremely talented player and they likely feel there is still some untapped potential there by changing up the way he plays in some small ways and optimizing the things he does well better.

We can debate about whether blowing up the whole thing was better or taking that RJ/IQ deal (there's arguments for both sides), but I think we got good value for OG in the end and Masai taking the deal set us down a different path. TBD if it was the right move.

I think the good thing is that RJ and Ingram are both on reasonable contracts. If it's not working out, one or both of them can be shipped for prospects/picks potentially.

[Dalek]

I don't have a sense of what others on the board are thinking, but I look at this team in 2018 when we were a regular playoff team at a crossroads with taking the next step which was when Masai made the series of trades for a title shot.

Compared to now, which is a team with two consecutive 50 loss seasons. Why are we so desperate to add talent like Ingram that is mid career, injured and not an obvious difference maker. RJ and Quick are low level starters. I have come around to Poeltl as a good value contract who outperforms his cost.

We had a chance to be terrible for 2025 and 2026, during important draft years with quality prospects. We decided to go from terrible to middling which is the worst place to be in the NBA. Look at the Bulls the last three years being bounced by Miami in each play-in game.

Because they are starved for talent and Ingram is an extremely talented player and they likely feel there is still some untapped potential there by changing up the way he plays in some small ways and optimizing the things he does well better.

We can debate about whether blowing up the whole thing was better or taking that RJ/IQ deal (there's arguments for both sides), but I think we got good value for OG in the end and Masai taking the deal set us down a different path. TBD if it was the right move.

I think the good thing is that RJ and Ingram are both on reasonable contracts. If it's not working out, one or both of them can be shipped for prospects/picks potentially.

I think IQ is pretty moveable because he has that pull-up shooting ability, even if his contract is a bit on the rich end. RJ you have to give the ball to do his thing. He isn't exactly a plug and play guy and when you look deeper into his deficiencies he is just a poor shooter and defender overall.

Masai could fix the overall roster imbalance by swinging a big deal and adding RJ and IQ but it seems like a long shot to expect another Doncic type trade to happen this year, especially after the backlash in Dallas. The only reasonable guys I can see being moved are Lamelo and Trae while I am not sure I would someone like KD at this stage.

[Tripod]

in what world did we go all in? we traded a projected late 2026 1st and still have all our picks. Masai have never went all in during his time here

lol yeah that's just odd considering the main complaint on here is that he doesn't go all-in by choosing optionality instead

I don't have a sense of what others on the board are thinking, but I look at this team in 2018 when we were a regular playoff team at a crossroads with taking the next step which was when Masai made the series of trades for a title shot.

Compared to now, which is a team with two consecutive 50 loss seasons. Why are we so desperate to add talent like Ingram that is mid career, injured and not an obvious difference maker. RJ and Quick are low level starters. I have come around to Poeltl as a good value contract who outperforms his cost.

We had a chance to be terrible for 2025 and 2026, during important draft years with quality prospects. We decided to go from terrible to middling which is the worst place to be in the NBA. Look at the Bulls the last three years being bounced by Miami in each play-in game.

Why are you comparing our team now to 2018 team? Maybe it's 2017 like when we traded for Ibaka. Maybe it's simply about acquiring an undervalued guy that you think you can "fix". Or grab him now to use in a bigger deal later....who knows.

We had to fight like hell to finish bottom 10. To do it again next year you have to trade away half the starters. Reality is you only want to tank....and Masai doesn't.

Funny you rip Masai who has won a Championship while being gaga over Mark's who hasn't. And you rip Masai for taking on a guy like BI with risk, yet Mark added Simmons, Harden, Kyrie, and KD. No risk there?

[Tripod]

Anyone else notice Masai had a little dig at RJ?

He said something like "RJ exposed himself, he CAN play defense".

I think they has a convo with him about that when they started focusing on defense more as he was much better. And now the expectations are higher on that end of the court.

[YogurtProducer]

Suggs wasn't paid more this year, he will be paid slightly more next year when his contract kicks in, but his contract is more team friendly because it goes down each year if we're using the same argument for IQ. For all this talk about cap going up and IQ becoming underpaid in the future because of his flat salary in "2028/29"; it's not like his first 4 years won't count against the cap. He underperformed/was overpaid in year 1 of his contract.

His deal is not even an overpayment RIGHT NOW. He currently is dead smack in the middle of pay among starting PGs. By the end of the deal he will be near the bottom.

lets even go with your argument he was overpaid in year 1. How does that matter going forward? If we paid IQ $22.5M instead of $32.5M it wouldn't have allowed us to sign anyone anyways. So isnt the end of the contract where it might have an impact more important anyways?

"Why not pay IQ 45M this year then? Wouldn't allow us to sign anyone else?" These are circular irrational arguments.

His deal is not even an overpayment RIGHT NOW. He currently is dead smack in the middle of pay among starting PGs.

that would be considered overpaid since he's closer to the bottom 3rd of starting PGs in the league.

I mean, adjust his salary for the fact it is flat and not rising and he is in the bottom 3rd of salaries too on AAV and the only reason he is not in 2023-24 is due to how the contract is set up. Or account for the fact Cade/Suggs have not had their contracts kick in which would bump him down 2 spots as well, etc.

Would you feel better if he had gotten the raises and his contract was 28/30/32/34/36 and he was below Jrue this year and higher than him in 4 years? Despite it being the same dollar value?

It just wasn't some massive overpay like you are making it out to be. It was pretty par for the course for a young starting caliber guard with potential to grow.

[deck]

Masai has lost his touch with team-building and he has not improved the free agent situation here since first coming. Listen to Masai versus what we hear from Sean Marks from Brooklyn:

Read on Twitter

Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks on acquiring a star: “If you’re going after max-level talent, they’ve got to automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team. This can’t be like let’s go get this and lock ourselves into being a sixth or seventh seed. When we go all in, you’re going in to compete at the highest level and contend.”

Masai in his interview: "We have to do things in a different way in the market we are in." It sounded like a defeated Masai, very different than the guy who said Toronto should believe in itself.

We went all in and got Brandon Ingram who in his entire tenure did not make New Orleans a contender. He was just a high level role player who scored a lot but could not stay healthy. It was a move you make when you know you cannot go the slow way like Brooklyn and wait to sign the right max player. Even trading for IQ and Barrett hemmed us into a low ceiling team.

Now, this team is a locked into a core for two years and we are at best a 7 seed. I am more inclined to think we are Chicago Bulls level where we get bounced on a play-in game. My only hope is we get a top two pick this year which could disrupt this mediocrity.

Marks and the Nets also went 'all in' with Kyrie, Harden, and KD and the outcome was mediocrity. 9 years as GM and he has 3 seasons above 500 to show for it. He is forced to go the 'slow way' now because his time in Brooklyn thus far has been a failure. Not a good example of the point you are trying to make.

[mademan]

Masai has lost his touch with team-building and he has not improved the free agent situation here since first coming. Listen to Masai versus what we hear from Sean Marks from Brooklyn:

Read on Twitter

Brooklyn Nets GM Sean Marks on acquiring a star: “If you’re going after max-level talent, they’ve got to automatically and absolutely change the trajectory of your team. This can’t be like let’s go get this and lock ourselves into being a sixth or seventh seed. When we go all in, you’re going in to compete at the highest level and contend.”

Masai in his interview: "We have to do things in a different way in the market we are in." It sounded like a defeated Masai, very different than the guy who said Toronto should believe in itself.

We went all in and got Brandon Ingram who in his entire tenure did not make New Orleans a contender. He was just a high level role player who scored a lot but could not stay healthy. It was a move you make when you know you cannot go the slow way like Brooklyn and wait to sign the right max player. Even trading for IQ and Barrett hemmed us into a low ceiling team.

Now, this team is a locked into a core for two years and we are at best a 7 seed. I am more inclined to think we are Chicago Bulls level where we get bounced on a play-in game. My only hope is we get a top two pick this year which could disrupt this mediocrity.

Marks and the Nets also went 'all in' with Kyrie, Harden, and KD and the outcome was mediocrity. 9 years as GM and he has 3 seasons above 500 to show for it. He is forced to go the 'slow way' now because his time in Brooklyn thus far has been a failure. Not a good example of the point you are trying to make.

eh. The nets failure was just bad luck. They really had a 2 year-ish window once they got Harden where all three guys were ALL-NBA level..one year was destroyed because iron man Harden got a hammy injury and Kyrie landing on Giannis's foot (and it took both, as Nets wouldve won if either was healthy). Another was ruined by a once in a generation pandemic.

Hate on Marks if you want, but the Nets just got unlucky