saintEscaton wrote:suns91fan wrote:Scutt wrote:
No, fans who say the Suns are a young team, and use that as justification for being mediocre, or proof that we are not a treadmill team, are foolish. Of the 3 young guys on the team last year, only Len was actually in the rotation. This year we will most likely only have two, Len and Warren. The team might have a couple young guys, but the players in the actual rotation are not.
Yes, because Bledsoe, Knight and Kieff are super old and likely to retire in 2-3 years.
Yes they aren't exactly spring chickens with an eternal abundance of untapped potential.
At this point of their careers we know exactly the kind of players they are each with their own fatal flaws and they are most likely not going to get much better. Hopefully they plateau rather than regress. This is a terrible core to build around. Except maybe Bled if he cuts his turnovers while maintaining a consistent assist output and eventually elevates his on the ball D to a lockdown All-NBA Defensive level . He also needs to develop a killer instinct to make up for his lack of assertiveness /inability to be a floor general in order for his numbers to be impactful rather than inconsequential garbage time stat stuffing we saw last year.Even then he's only a complimentary piece and a steady sidekick/#3 scoring option on a contender
That's a not true. You need to look at starting experience and stats/metrics trajectory, not just age, when determining a player's growth, and Knight and Bledsoe are still clearly developing. Knight has improved every year over the past 3 years (combined MIL/PHX stats in 2nd link), and Bledsoe has just 2 years starting experience.
http://www.boxscoregeeks.com/players/473-brandon-knighthttp://www.boxscoregeeks.com/players?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=knightNow look at the comparison of EB and Knight to Dragic and Wall--all very close. And while stats don't tell the whole story, they at least provide something concrete to make a comparison.
http://www.boxscoregeeks.com/players/compare?utf8=%E2%9C%93&player_ids%5B%5D=473&player_ids%5B%5D=123&player_ids%5B%5D=102&player_ids%5B%5D=348&season=2014And now look at Wall's career. He's a good example of a player that has likely plateaued, not EB or Knight.
http://www.boxscoregeeks.com/players/348-john-wallAnd then let's not shut Goodwin down yet. Because we signed a D-Leaguer? Really?? He's still here and there has been absolutely no information or news that points to his departure, so why are we basing judgment of our FO on misguided theories and poor analysis. We still have a lot of players that are still developing:
EB
Knight
Len
Goodwin
Warren
Booker (no idea why he was left out of the discussion)
Bogdanovic (next year--let's not forget him)
And possibly Leuer, Teletovic, and Weems, as they are all a bit older, but have very little NBA experience. The only known commodities on this team are Chandler, Tucker, and Price. That's more of an issue than having enough players to develop, and just because they aren't solidly in the rotation means absolutely nothing. You don't want a team that has no veteran players to provide leadership, mentorship, and guidance within the rotation. If you do, and you enjoy watching a team that loses 2 games for every game won, because it's fun to watch a bunch of youngins with ZERO guidance, then by all means, go be a fan of the Sixers. I think Hinkie forgot that the goal of the NBA is to win games, not the draft.
If you want to win games, you don't start more developing talent than veterans. In my view, a team should field no more than 2 players at a time with less than 2 years experience. If we started Goodwin, Booker, Warren, Leuer, and Len, we'd be destroyed, but a lineup of EB, Knight, Tucker, Len, and Chandler would be awesome, and with Len extending his range, I wouldn't be surprised to see Len and Chandler on the floor at the same time for short periods.