MrSparkle wrote:I saw most the logic in their moves; seemed like mostly smart moves. Vuc in short hindsight was very bad.
The Vuc trade was a disaster in every related way. Amazing how 1 strike actually turned into 3 strikes (permanent defensive liability that the coach must plan around, decision to dump Lauri/Thad/Wendell/Gafford, giving up Franz and another) but if there’s one thing that bothers me… it’s that Vuc’s still the starting C, going into season #4. He’s woefully inadequate and should be a 6th man or traded for peanuts; move on from this colossal mistake. At this point, the only trade return you’re getting is a lucky break — aka, might as well be another great MLE signing like Caruso.
Little moves… I mean, I see the value in a P-Bev, Goran… didn’t want to see Jevon pursued, but even then, there’s value from a locker-room/mentorship angle. Whatever Coby took away from them was a plus, and they cost very little.
But it was mostly concerning that all these years into the mess, they actually thought Jevon was going to be the better version of P-Bev we needed to off-set Lonzo. OK- maybe they didn’t think that. But if not, then why in god’s name didn’t they pursue a forward who could shoot? Or a rim protector?
The athleticism and length of this team is bottom-5. It’s like worst of the GarPax builds, all over again. I’m actually stunned we’re here again. Undersized and/or a step slow to league average at every single position on the floor. And poor at shooting, too? Why are they tripling down on the exact type of lame roster we struggled to get out the 1st rd with, for 20 years? What happened to whatever AK was involved with in Denver?
It’s actually mind-boggling when you think about it. It’s like Arturas watched tape of the 2006 Bulls, and decided he wants to rebuild that.
Anyway, kinda getting to the end-game here. The chess board is down to a few pawns and bishops. I’m pretty down on what Zach will fetch. A cheap Pat resign at best means we secure an improving 10 PER single digit prospect to a short extension (like Coby), at worst, he never pans out into top-4 pick potential. Coby’s improvement is great and all, but he still has ways to go. Despite AK saying Phillips will contribute… surprise… Billy has him at under 99 minutes for the season, with a promising 34% TS and 3.2 PER (warning low sample size).
Sigh… I want my cake (Caruso and Demar help win games) and I want to eat it too (prospects develop), like Miami, but they just don’t seem to be connecting on any hits.
man this is so painful to relive. i mean after everything we had to go through to get lauri in terms giving up jimmy, taking on kriss dunn. i mean i admit i was losing faith in him as well, but you don't get rid of a player like that prematurely. he was outplaying tatum their rookie yr and hit the most 3's ever for a rookie before his mysterious decline. of course hindsight is 20/20 and i didn't expect him to become this good, but still.
i give them a d because they couldn't have predicted lonzo's injury. had he been healthy, we would've been a different team. not a contender, but at least a competitor.
the caruso signing was great and the derozan one wasn't terrible (could've been good if we had the right pieces around him).
but what about patrick williams? arturas reached for him with the 4th overall pick when he was projected to go at the end of the first. he could've traded down for him at the very least if he was so high on him. and he reached down for the wrong guy. he could've gotten hali or maxey with that pick. i feel like he def didn't mastermind the joker 2nd rd pick. either someone else in the nuggets fo was responsible or he fluked into it.
i hate to say this, but garpax was better