doclinkin wrote:nate33 wrote:payitforward wrote:When the big trade happened, it wasn't a matter of our targeting Kuzma -- the idea was to move Russ for... value. Of any kind. First conversations about Kuzma were about moving him if I recollect rightly.
Then, he started the season playing well -- half way through he was slightly above his previous season productivity level, suggesting that he still had development in him. But, by the time the season ended, Kuzma was somewhat behind his level of play from the previous year. Which suggests that he's at his peak/prime. No surprise: he turns 27 this Summer.
Kuz is not going to help us become a contending team. It's time to trade Kyle Kuzma. Use him as a way to get younger.
The way I see it, one of Kuzma or Rui should be moved because there aren't enough minutes at forward for all 4 of Kuzma, Rui, Deni and Kispert. I don't really care which of the two get moved. There are arguments either way.
I think Kuzma is a more talented player than Rui, and he has better basketball instincts. I think it's plausible that Kuzma can be coached into being a more effective player simply by asking him to do the things he does well (rebound, play decent D) and reducing his usage so that he can focus on more efficient scoring opportunities (more catch-and-shoot 3's, less everything else). He might also be effective as a high usage bench scorer for the 2nd unit rather than as a low usage role player in the starting lineup. Of course, Kuzma is also older and more expensive than Rui.
Rui is younger and a better 3-point shooter, but is worse at everything else.
Pretty much where I am. Also because my favorite players in this draft are at forward. And doubtless this front office won't select another one while we still have a logjam at the position.
All good points by both of you I'd say.
Yet, TBH, I'd be more than willing to move both guys -- though any deal depends on what you get in return, obviously.
That said, between the 2, my preference would be to keep Rui -- & not just to make primetime happy!
He's younger. There's at least some chance he takes a nice jump next season, at which point he'll bring more in a trade if we still want to move him. Or, he'll be more valuable to us. I do worry that we'd overpay him. But, we're already overpaying Kuz, & I have an equally big worry that we'll overpay him on his next deal -- which would wind up being a bigger overpay.
Nor am I worried about losing both from a team performance pov. I think Gill deserves & can handle way more minutes than he got this year. He's not a high-usage player, but he's a solid defender -- & he posted a .682 TS% this year! Gill only played in 44 games this year & played only 10 min/game, which I didn't understand. He can handle 15 minutes a game easily, IMO, maybe more. I.e. 1200+ minutes/season. Viewing him that way gives us a lot more roster flexibility. In any case, we aren't going to be all that good in the coming season anyway. We need to be thinking about roster construction going forward.
This is not about not liking Kuz for some reason -- the opposite! From the POV of entertainment (which, after all, the NBA is) I like him a lot.
