SWedd523 wrote:"Got them right where we want 'em"
Not exactly, but it seems obvious their strategy for this season has revolved around not wanting to throw their 1st round pick in the trash because Mitch Kupchak somehow got duped by Kai Jones a few years ago.
I would imagine they expected to be healthier overall this season and not have lost so many games already, but they probably also expected the East to not suck as bad as it has and probably didn't think they were going to be in contention for the playoffs regardless, so I don't think they are bothered right now to be underperforming.
It would be so incredibly depressing to sneak into the playoffs this season with a losing record only to get swept by the Celtics and lose their draft pick, but it basically seems like some people are begging for them to try to engineer that exact outcome and it seems completely insane to me.
If they continue to not make moves to improve the team after they secure their draft pick, or if they try but make a bunch of terrible moves, then I will be complaining with the rest of you. Maybe a year from now it will be more obvious Lee isn't it and Salaun is a real bust (I'm skeptical of both of them too).
I think the positive developments are things like LaMelo absolutely balling out. Mark getting back on the court and looking like the same beast as always. The emergence of Tre Mann as a legit 6th man. Cody Martin being healthy all season. Nic Richards and Josh Green looking serviceable. The team finally starting to get healthy while still seeming like they aren't in danger of losing their pick. I think them not making any win-now moves is an explicitly good development. Miller hasn't been great, but I'm really not worried about him. Obviously not everything is going well, but I don't think all of the doom spiraling is warranted at this point.
They're one of the youngest teams in the league with a rookie head coach and theyve had exactly one game thus far with their entire starting lineup healthy and still had multiple of those guys on a minutes restriction in that one game. I'm not at all worried about where the win-loss record is currently at and given the circumstances I'm actively glad theyve racked up so many losses while everyone has been injured.
Maybe the stuff I'm talking about doesn't have much to do with your specific complaints/concerns, but in general I dont think a lot of the negativity about certain things makes much sense at this point.
edit: I understand people getting driven crazy by the insane injury luck, but as long as they aren't injuries with long term implications (sorry Grant
) they might be a blessing in disguise this season. There are only seven teams with a winning record in the East and six with a positive net rating. It might be possible to get into the East playoffs through the play-in with like 36 wins. The current 10th seed in the East is playing at a 33 win pace.
