UTJazzFan_Echo1 wrote:I really don't see Knight or Kemba as just role player PG's in comparison to the guys you have right now...Bayless is a SG and Calderon is just flat out horrible on defense, he kills you guys on D.
I'm not trying to be rude, I'm a big Raptors fan and watch a lot of your games. I was just shocked to see you guys pass on Knight when he fell right into your laps. I thought you guys would eat him up.
I don't get the strategy of waiting to get a PG next year...there is no guarantee you will get anyone better next year at PG and I guess if you guys want to be contempt on being bad for another year to get another lottery pick then so be it but that's not a winning strategy....mainly because you know, you're still losing.
Just saying is all...
Well, it's not just about getting upgrades, but getting a collection of players good enough to make you contenders. I'm not convinced that either Kemba or Knight will be significantly better than Bayless. I don't even expect either of them to make it as long-term starters in the NBA. Draft either of them, and eventually we'd be just looking for another PG upgrade except now we wouldn't have a potential long-term C either.
This Raptors team is short on talent. They can't rely on being a market that will attract players who just want to play there. So they need to draft talent. This team has no star player, and they very badly need one. They were hoping to get one this year, but with all the players opting out it wasn't possible. Next year's draft looks stacked, and getting a top notch PG or SF should not be a problem. At that point this team should have enough young players either reaching their primes or still incubating to start think about adding some vets to round out team and shore up weaknesses.
Going forward this is probably what we're going to see unless some deals are made to speed up the process (assuming no lost season because then it's all up in the air):
2011-2012 this team will suck and be in the lottery.
2012-2013 this team will have 2 raw rookies they are counting on to develop (Val and whoever they draft next year in the stacked lottery) and unless they dip a lot into free agency will likely suck
2013-2014 this team will start to show some of the fruits of their investment, assuming players don't turn into busts. This is probably when they really start to round the team out and pick up a young vet at PG or SF they are missing. Might eke into the playoffs.
2014-2015 decent playoff team. Many young players in their primes (mid 20's) and Bargnani gone or on his way out
I suspect at least one of the younger players will be dealt to try to speed this process up by one year.
