Red8911 wrote:ShouldaPaidBG wrote:MrSparkle wrote:Zach had his moment, particularly after the Olympic run with Draymond and Durant. At his best, I don’t think he had this “four unprotected picks” value like Mitchell or Gobert (although I didn’t think those guys did either… but granted they had longer playoff records and accolades). His $20M salary was probably a lot more appealing than his on-court potential.
I don’t particularly think there was ever a great market for $45M Lavine. We kinda did the right thing by offering him the max, but I thought they could’ve atleast explored the S&T market. FA markets have been tight the past few years (usually tank jobs have cap).
Anyway, it is what it is. If Pistons wanted Zach a week ago, they might as well want him in November since it makes no sense winning more games this season, anyway. I just think AK refuses to dump him for zero assets. Odds are that Pistons deal would’ve fallen through, as they’d try to jam Killian Hayes and Wiseman on us, instead of any picks.
Otherwise, here we go with over $70M of cap going to surgeries and rehabs. 3 seasons in a row rocked by heavy injuries to starters.
The Olympics are what put him on the wrong path. It was quarantine with Draymond that caused him to sign with Klutch in the first place. The ego problems came along with it. The way Zach came back from his ACL tear was actually impressive/inspiring. He clearly had an extremely regimented offseason workout routine. The Olympics threw it off for the first time in years. I think with a repaired knee you have to take recovery seriously, and Zach's body basically couldn't afford to spend an offseason playing the Olympics vs. his normal routine. The little injuries started piling up right after that, and it led us to where we are now. I'm not saying he lost his work ethic, definitely not, it's just that his body couldn't handle it and it created this cascade/domino effect of small dings leading to compensation injuries, leading to frustration and everything else that's happened.......he was a different player before an after the Olympics and it can't all be chalked up to the roster overhaul.
Let’s not forget he’s getting a lil older too, 29 soon. He’s never going to be the Zach that we had once he came to Chicago. The high flying fast as a bullet athletic player he once was is a thing in the past. He obviously can still do some of those things but not like he used to.
He chooses to not do things. It’s not that. He is still as fast and explosive as any good SG outside probably Anthony Edwards. What I see from him is conscious effort to not make those explosive to dunks anymore. He is very careful about how he jumps and lands. He doesn’t want alley oops. Probably to avoid putting unnecessary stress on his legs.