sully00 wrote:SichtingLives wrote:There's a big problem trading for Asik. It obviously isn't a win-now move because we are years from contention no matter what happens this year. If you trade for this guy, you're trading for your defensive anchor of the future (as obvious as that is, it has to be stated), since there's maybe a handful of those in the league. Ok, great.
How are you years from contention? Your years from contention if you think the only way to get there is by drafting 19 year old kids. But if you actually win games with what you have then you can use the treasure chest of draft picks to acquire the players you need to contend.
This team has the kind of guys you get with top 5 picks Rondo, Green, Sullinger, Asik would be another. The difference is that you don't have to hurt the brand and overpay guys to even entertain the idea of coming to your suck franchise. Are these guys Pierce, Allen, and Garnett, nope but they don't get paid like them either so you can afford to get them more help.
Right now the NBA especially the Eastern Conference is full of teams in a race to the bottom. Some have a clear motivation in PHI others just can't get out of their own way. Do you go to the bathroom or the cash register with the long line? I know I don't.
While it may not have looked like it at the beginning of the season Boston probably has as much talent as any team in the East outside of Miami and Indiana. Once Rondo is back the biggest issue the team has is a lack of size especially defensively. If you can turn Bass into Asik then you give yourself a very solid big man rotation. I like Bass but he is this team's worst rebounding big and there is just really no reason that Sully and Hump can't cover what he give you at the 4 if what you add is Asik at the 5.
Unless they've totally redone the playoff system, I'm pretty sure you have to beat the best teams in the league to win titles, not Milwaukee and Orlando or any dregs of the Eastern conference. We are nowhere near contention right now, and this move probably makes us better short-term but we still wouldn't be contending.
We were never tanking. We are rebuilding. Year one. Bonus: It's gone tremendously well so far. You, this guy, that kid and every other poster on this forum has it carved in stone that you CANNOT win a title without an elite superstar player or plural. So what is this dredge? Asik is first team all-NBA? No. He's a great piece to a puzzle sure, he fills a glaring hole that makes our defense probably top 5 (offense not so much) and as much as I love the strides Bass has made cerebrally, I'd swap them straight up in a heartbeat.....in a vacuum, where salary doesn't matter. But your problem is right in the words you stated. You DO have to overpay Asik, and tremendously so, which is why he is not a fit in this system. If you think A.) He's going to accept a contract extension for 7/8 mil per to stay in Boston in a few years or B) some other team wouldn't blow that offer out of the water and he wouldn't take it, I'd say you're mistaken on both fronts. So there goes our paint protection right at the point in time that it actually may become valuable towards title contention. And in the meantime, his salary puts us in a bind during a period of years where flexibility is essential.
Another thing about this hokey "quick rebuild" some have been hastily chartering around these boards lately, is that what you're looking to do is essentially make another 2011-2012 style run where we put a nice group on the floor who flat out isn't beating Indy or Miami in a 7 game series, let alone whoever comes out of the West. Thanks but no dice. Reminds me of those teams that got stomped by the Nets. Not interested. With what we have in maturing assets today, many of which will only continue to mature in value (not even including the yet to roost draft picks of the next year or two), you don't just shoot your wad at the first hot chick that walks by, you wait for the winner.
Trying to even put a pretend contender together as long as Lebron is in his peak is a stupid proposition anyway. He's primed to keep winning, so are the few teams hot on his trail, and we're frankly nowhere close to that level in a series against any of them. Need to wait til he hits 32/33 or so before you want to put your money squad on the court and make a resurgence. if you can jump that gun in acquiring a stud, absolutely go for it. Anything short of that, I'm not too keen on except to keep building what we have and waiting for the right package to present itself. Not that making shrewd moves in the meantime isn't the way to go, but picking up Asik on his salary and future demands is the opposite of shrewd. That's the type of contract that you kick yourself in the ass over for years.
Lebron is not done winning rings yet, and although someone may have a counter for him and his teams, it's not us this year, or the next, and likely the next after that. Too much short-sighted, small picture thinking here. All (just about) our guys are young too. Our puppy faced coach just signed a 6 year deal. How many years was it before Doc had a contender? We've got the years to wait and a good product to start with. Have patience. Asik sounds nice and might fit on the court, but imo he does more to hurt us in the march towards 18 than he does to help, and it's because of the salary and nothing else.