TB wrote:The funny thing is I actually think they HAVE followed the blueprint, which has been the problem since KD left.
Huge shout out to Steph (for carrying) and multiple guys having a couple insane months of health and performances in 2022 (Wiggins, Looney, Poole, Otto, Belly, GP2) to get that ring... but it also covered up a lot of the issues Bob Myers was causing.
It required Otto and Belly being healthy and playing their best ball (neither have played basketball since that year for the most part). Poole and Wiggins and Looney all played out of their minds.
JMG and Donte were solid signings at the time. In theory, JMG playing at his best could put in some decent performances. The problem is that it was REQUIRED for him to play out of his mind for us to have a chance with a backup big. All other spots were taken by young players or 2way players not doing nearly enough, very similar to the year prior.
Then this year we copied essentially the same formula. Saric and Joseph were good signings for vet mins. They even showed some flashes not much different than the regular season flashes Otto and Belly had. But Kerr had gone away from them by the time CP3 was hurt and switched to going with rookies (really good rookies, but still rookies).
The difference with this upcoming year, in theory, is that a lot of young players SHOULD be ready. Kuminga, Moody, Podz, Trayce can't just be in the rotation, they need to be playing winning basketball if we want to have a contender. Whoever can't do that this upcoming year should be moved.... which is unfortunate because its a couple years late to go that route. Almost in this strange purgatory where trading all the youth probably doesn't get back enough to help the current version of the big 3... and sticking with the youth won't give the big 3 a contender anytime soon enough either.
As you point out the main deficiency compared to the 2022 team that this 2024 version lacked was someone to fill Otto Porter's shoes. What made a Otto attractive? He was 3 and D. Who comes closest to that on the current roster? I'd say Moody. Yet he wasn't played as much as he could have been and that's why that has been the source of a great deal of angst. Klay falling off also required someone to start replacing him. This team required at least one or two other 3 and D candidates. That's not really Kuminga's profile and Lester and Gui don't really look like it either.
Wiggins was just a bizarre case this year. Cannot blame the front office for not being able to anticipate his poor play but once it was clear he was playing bad it was a great excuse to give Moody, JK, TJD more minutes yet Kerr still dragged his feet.
CP3 just doesn't fit the prior winning model. One was just hoping his high IQ would cover up the bad fit with the model.
That Podziemski and TJD were able to play a good deal of minutes is a bonus. But it was not something that the team could really depend upon and relying on rookies for major contributions in the playoffs is a big ask.
I can see the Saric and Bjelica comparison but Saric was inferior to Bjelica in the times the team needed big man defense. In terms of big man defense there were a lot of other more obvious names to consider. Still there were lineups where Saric showed some promise as being playable although not in the exact role Bjelica played. The coaching staff didn't seem interested in really exploring any of them though after Saric fell out of favor. In short expecting Saric and TJD to fill the Bogut, Pechulia, Bjelica role was disappointing.
Signing Joseph didn't really make much sense to me with CP3 onboard and he became truly redundant with Podziemski showing out.
In short:
Steph -> Steph
Draymond -> Draymond
Klay -> Klay but he really needs to be replaced.
Barnes -> Wiggins but he played abysmal this year.
Iguodala -> CP3? Kuminga?
Bogut -> Saric, TJD
Aside from Steph and Draymond who are also declining due to age I didn't see good enough fits with the model this year. With Klay and Wiggins performing so far below expectations maybe it is even a positive surprise the team had the record that it did.
