Best futures of Bad Teams

[Blkbrd671]

you brought up stats from a rookie too saying that Oladipo isn't a good 3 point shooter cause of his rookie year.
Facts are Oladipo and Harris have gotten better at shooting the 3 Ball.

Yes a 80 game sample, not 35 games. Dipo is 35% for his career while harris is 4 seasons into his. Fact is 35 games at 40% does not erase 80+game samples. Dipo has a ton of upside, and as i said and Orlando fans continue to ignore, they may be good compliments,idk, i just know they both need the ball in there hands to be most effective. Isn't that the reason dipo was looked at as a PG.

The past doesn't matter.

you should sign josh smith, awesome character guy, improved jumpshot and 3 point shot. #thumbsup

[Blkbrd671]

Exactly. Detroit is going to upset someone first round too. I doubt they end up with the 8th seed. I'm thinking 6-7 seed for Detroit with a first round upset. Quote me.

as our great coach SVG would say, talking about playoffs 13 games under.500 is ridiculous.i believe in our team but its a long season

[Mich3006]

I see the Lakers in the best position. It´s LA, remember the difference between ´05 and ´06 in comparison to ´09... They´ll go for the FA-market 2016, sign elite players and add a top draft pick in the upcoming off-season.

No way the Lakers will be on the bottom for a long time...


The baddest future: The Nets, no doubt about it!

[Blkbrd671]

You do realize he shot .327 % from the field last year?? while i do acknowledge shooters can improve and i am quite surprised at Dipo's %, i don't think anyone considers him a shooter>slasher. My concern with Dipo is he's much more effective with the ball in his hands and while 2 play makers next to each other is not necessarily a bad thing, its a problem with they don't compliment each other. Payton needs floor spacers next to him and harris and Dipo aren't good consistent 3 point shooters. As i said, i am not quite sure they compliment each other, just basing it off their strengths.

I do remember a certain former MVP who shot %28.8 from 3 point range his rookie season, then proceeded to shoot %42.2 from 3 his sophomore year. I'll let you figure out who that was.

You and the guy trying to argue Stau and Dipo should get together on another thread as that is not the discussion. I do believe both players are most effective when they are ball dominant. as i continue to repeat due to lack of simple comprehension, i don't know if two play makers are compliments to each other. To use tide as a example, isn't that the reason HArden game off the bench and not with Westbrook?

I love Dipo's improvement. And replacing "him" should not be the issue for the Magic going forward. It should be surrounding "him" with some spacers. I like Payton's game a lot, but Dipo's potential is a lot higher if you ask me.

I will pay extra attention to the next magic game i see, i loved what i saw from Dipo the last time he played detroit, however i was much more impressed with Payton's poise. My concern is when Dipo gets doubled and is forced to pass out , he ideally would have either elf, Gordon, or Harris on the wings? I believe teams would be trying to force that

[Blkbrd671]

UTH seems to have been the best wrost team the past 4 years. Favors never turned into Amare, Kanter is inconsistent, hayward is a beast, and Burkes is still figuring it out. They have a future with Goubert, if healthy. and Burks is good but not great. Haven't seen exum enough to comment. They really don't have a clear picture of their directions.i'd suggest they trade kanter and Burke and get what they can to build around Exum, Goubert and fAvors

Utah has only been bad since last year. They made the playoffs in 2012 and were 43-39 in 2013.

what was their record before that? all i recall each year is i predict UTH to be better than they are . When you look at the names on the roster at least

[Hedda Gambler]

what was their record before that? all i recall each year is i predict UTH to be better than they are . When you look at the names on the roster at least

The year before was the first time in quite a few years that they missed the play-offs. Sloan quit, DWill was traded and the whole team fell apart. Before this the team was built around DWill, Boozer, Millsap and Okur and made some noise in the POs.

[tiderulz]

. Dipo has a ton of upside, and as i said and Orlando fans continue to ignore, they may be good compliments,idk, i just know they both need the ball in there hands to be most effective. Isn't that the reason dipo was looked at as a PG.

here is what happens when you dont follow teams. The reason Dipo was given PG duties was to improve his ball handling, which was a cited weakness coming into his draft. The time spent at backup PG was used to tighten up his ball handling, as he was primarily an off the ball SG at Indiana.

Again, a his best games have been when he can play SG and concentrate on attacking, not always having the ball in his hands and having to think too much. He would be a combo guard at best as a PG as his court vision is just not there for a PG.

[CoreConcept]

UTH seems to have been the best wrost team the past 4 years. Favors never turned into Amare, Kanter is inconsistent, hayward is a beast, and Burkes is still figuring it out. They have a future with Goubert, if healthy. and Burks is good but not great. Haven't seen exum enough to comment. They really don't have a clear picture of their directions.i'd suggest they trade kanter and Burke and get what they can to build around Exum, Goubert and fAvors

Utah has only been bad since last year. They made the playoffs in 2012 and were 43-39 in 2013.

what was their record before that? all i recall each year is i predict UTH to be better than they are . When you look at the names on the roster at least

They were something like 31-20 and then traded D-Will. Finished the year 39-43. Went 36-30 the following year and finished 8th in the West in the lockout shortened season.

[Shot Clock]

There's a lot of faith and credit given to the LA Lakers in free agency when historically they have really only ever had one significant FA signing (Shaq). And that was back when Shaq thought he had a movie career in front of him. Almost all of their success has come from the draft and trades. Currently they have no trade assets and they owe two first round picks over the next few year.

Jerry Buss is gone, Phil is gone, the shine is off the franchise. They aren't a team that can attract players based on a legitimate title shot. They are in rebuild mode in the front office and the team.

[dautjazz]

What's with the Philly hype? Ok they got Nerlens Noel who looks promising as long as he can stay healthy. Then Embiid was extremely overhyped and has gained 50lbs in 6 months. MCW is inefficient as hell, they need to get rid of him. Wroten is another player, nice raw stats, then you look at his shooting, pretty terrible. I just don't really see that they have much on their current roster. Boston to me looks like they have a much better future (though they just started) with Zeller, Olynyk, Sullinger, Smart, plus a million picks.

[dautjazz]

There's a lot of faith and credit given to the LA Lakers in free agency when historically they have really only ever had one significant FA signing (Shaq). And that was back when Shaq thought he had a movie career in front of him. Almost all of their success has come from the draft and trades. Currently they have no trade assets and they owe two first round picks over the next few year.

Jerry Buss is gone, Phil is gone, the shine is off the franchise. They aren't a team that can attract players based on a legitimate title shot. They are in rebuild mode in the front office and the team.

They still are the Los Angelos Lakers, for that alone I think some big free agents would be more than happy to come. I think Kobe makes LA less appealing now because free agents know he's hogging cap space and if they jump aboard the team wont do anything until he's off the books. In the summer of 2016, assuming Kobe is off the books for good, the Lakers should be a very attractive place to play. They will have a 2015 and 2016 lottery picks, ofcourse Randle too, and room to sign multiple players to max contracts. LA is one of the best cities, if not the best for young millionaires in this country, with a plethora of entertainment options and it's great weather. Until the Lakers give me a decade of mediocrity (or worse), I will always have faith in that franchise to bounce back quick.

[snoopdogg88]

it's not a good argument when the best you can say about a team's future is - "Well it's LA, so someone will go there right??"

The Lakers might not even keep their draft pick this year, and their roster consists of Julius Randle and not much else.


Things can certainly change, but I have no idea how anyone could pick them right now.

[I Rasharted]

Someone get Hennigan on the horn and have him trade Dipo for Stauskas post-haste.

[majortom71]

What's with the Philly hype? Ok they got Nerlens Noel who looks promising as long as he can stay healthy. Then Embiid was extremely overhyped and has gained 50lbs in 6 months. MCW is inefficient as hell, they need to get rid of him. Wroten is another player, nice raw stats, then you look at his shooting, pretty terrible. I just don't really see that they have much on their current roster. Boston to me looks like they have a much better future (though they just started) with Zeller, Olynyk, Sullinger, Smart, plus a million picks.

I agree, Boston has so many future picks they may come out top when all is said and done.
They tend to do well in the draft too. I like how Olynyk has fit in.
I also like Smart, although I think he probably is more a long term project as PG.
They should be well built by the next 3-5 years.

[Ballah]

I know LA has a history of attracting great players, but I just wonder if that will continue. Of course, eventually they will attract stars, but I think no one comes in 2015 (joining a bad team with chucking, aging Kobe). They NEED KD to come in 2016, but we'll see.

LA is not going to attract anyone while Kobe is still hanging around, the guy is crippling the franchise with his contract and his belief he is still able to carry a team on his back.

[dautjazz]

it's not a good argument when the best you can say about a team's future is - "Well it's LA, so someone will go there right??"

The Lakers might not even keep their draft pick this year, and their roster consists of Julius Randle and not much else.


Things can certainly change, but I have no idea how anyone could pick them right now.

Hey, Magic Johnson wanted to play in LA, Kobe forced his way to LA, Shaq signed as a free agent, and I'm sure many others tried to do the same. Say what you will about the argument, but players do want to go to LA.

[jpengland]

Utah in a terrible position? GTFO.

Even if you discount Exum, and I certainly wouldn't, they have the future DPOY and best rim protector for the next ten years. Hayward is fantastic and Favors is a dominant defender and decent offensive piece.

The Burks contract is the only wrong move they have made.

Philly have an equally bright future as they have two potential inside defensive stalwarts.

Orlando will have too much tied up in Vucevic and Harris that they will struggle to take the next step defensively. I can see both being untradable in 2 years.

[HotelVitale]

Why would someone like Stauskis be a better compliment? He is shooting 27% from 3 and cant drive with the ball.

Come on tide, your going to bring stats up on a rookie!!!!!??? i picked a random young SG who is known as a floor spacer as oppose to slasher. Feel free to argue Dipo >Stauskis but i really don't care. Point was floor spacing SG.

I'll leave the rest of this to y'all but remind that the whole reason Stauskas was a lotto prospect was because he was very capable of driving in college and had pretty good vision off the bounce too. I know he hasn't shown much but his stock was based as much on his peripheral offensive skills as his pure shooting.

[dautjazz]

Utah in a terrible position? GTFO.

Even if you discount Exum, and I certainly wouldn't, they have the future DPOY and best rim protector for the next ten years. Hayward is fantastic and Favors is a dominant defender and decent offensive piece.

The Burks contract is the only wrong move they have made.

Philly have an equally bright future as they have two potential inside defensive stalwarts.

Orlando will have too much tied up in Vucevic and Harris that they will struggle to take the next step defensively. I can see both being untradable in 2 years.

Burks is still young, turned 23 over the summer. He was averaging 14/4/3 and shooting .382 behind the arc, and .822 from the charity stripe. His 2pt FG was rather low, but usually he's pretty good in that area. He had a rather slow start this year, and he could definitely be set back with this injury, but he could still bounce back well form this injury and be worth his contract extension. It's a left shoulder injury, and he's right handed. Should it be so concerning?

[HotelVitale]

it's not a good argument when the best you can say about a team's future is - "Well it's LA, so someone will go there right??"
The Lakers might not even keep their draft pick this year, and their roster consists of Julius Randle and not much else.

I think it's sad but true that FAs will come to LA just because it's LA. That doesn't mean they'll get a KD or even a Westbrook to come their way soon, but if they have $16m in cap space, they'll probably fetch a decent fish. Can't say the same for most rebuilding teams.

I also think that people are way too in love with young prospects. Having been around these boards for years, it's interesting but frustrating to see posters go from being totally enamored of some guy when he's 20 to mild or indifferent to him when he's 23 (...and then go back and do the exact same thing with a new 20 year-old). In the end, most guys don't reach their ceiling or fall to their floor, they just end up being okay players who can do some things effectively.

In the case of Philly, they could end up getting some stars from their picks, but it's very possible that their core of top picks could be like this one in a few years:
DJ Augustin
Mayo
Jeff Green
Ch Frye
Bogut
All those guys were once sky's-the-limit prospects that teams would've killed to get their hands on, and they've all been solid pros. That team wouldn't excite anyone. Yet it's the most likely outcome for a team that has five or six picks sprinkled between 2-12 over a couple of years.