Ghost of Kleine wrote:lilfishi22 wrote:Ghost of Kleine wrote:The reality in finding another star to place next to Booker is quite simply through the draft and always has been.
All stars have inevitably come from the draft and then been properly nurtured and developed in a solid environment. Other stars overcome poor environments and adversity to still reach their outlier outcomes. But the most cost effective and best odds of acquiring a star talent is still the draft. I mean how often do legitimate star players actually become available in trades or free agency?? Almost never because their teams just don't let them go! And even in the very miniscule outlier instances of them actually becoming available, You have to have an absurd cache of premium assets to even field a competitive offer for one! And even more so in today's NBA climate. And the sad reality is that we as a franchise simply don't have near enough premium assets (even with all of our picks) to field a competitive offer for a star player compared to many other current teams!
We blew those opportunities thanks to Jones aversion to the draft and recognizing value of young cost controlled upside assets. Ironically what you'll find as mandatory inclusionary pieces in the outgoing framework of any star trade currently! Teams with plenty of young rookie or 2nd and 3rd year upside talent will outbid us for available stars UNLESS we're actually willing to offload our core pieces in the trades. But IF we do that, then the trade outcome becomes (at best) maybe slightly better than a lateral move IF we're lucky???
lol virtually every player/star came through the draft....that's how the vast majority of NBA players (and busts) come into the NBA
Yeah! That's my point. It's a pretty safe argument...lol
But still, We stand much better odds of identifying that kind of talent and drafting them IF Ishbia brings in a top notch scouting team and talent evaluators than by trying to beat these other teams loaded to the hilt with assets that e simply can't match! Especially too from a cost control perspective seeing as how we also don't have any cap flexibility whatsoever beyond our taxpayer MLE to even try to land a high level impact player in free agency. So the best and most viable avenue left available to us would still be the draft.
Regardless if we're building through the draft or through trades, every team should aim to have the best scouting team and talent evaluators as possible. But finding the best is difficult because more of than not, they are already employed by other teams.
And just because the draft is one avenue to getting a star, it's by no means the only avenue to bring one to Phoenix. Great if you can find one in late lottery and be cost controlled for years to come but again, easier said than done.
