Pelly24 wrote:Think the point of your last Graf always comes down to a fundamental truth of championship pursuits: You're not going to be a Title threat without at least two All-NBA level players, or an MVP with an all-star teammate and a great complementary supporting cast. Jokic is the best player in the league and the best he could do was get to the second round (with both of his best players injured basically). Giannis needed Middleton and Jrue to win a chip, and even then, everyone they played was injured. There is no other player in Trae's place who would make this team a serious threat. This isn't a Trae thing; he just needs a better teammate, either a legit top 20 player or someone just better than him.
Everyone needs help. Even the 94 Rockets, the 04 Pistons and the 2011 Mavs had immense and timely step-ups from their roleplayers.
I could see Trae winning a title if he didn't have to score as much. He isn't the guy who can handle 27+ ppg in the playoffs and all his playmaking duties and all that. The NBA is still ultimately a league where size matters, and he lacks that very specifically. But that doesn't mean he can't be part of successful teams. His playmaking is something which maintains in the playoffs. He just needs to find a way to lessen his usage against better teams. Maybe that means he isn't the best guy on his team, maybe it just means he isn't the focal scorer. Not sure which would be better.
Speaking to your point and reiterating my earlier remark, though, playing alongside Dejounte Murray definitely isn't going to do it, that much is clear.
