Frank Lee wrote:oddity wrote:Easier Booker is a locked in starter and both Warren and Len can be. .....
Now sober.... I am not going comb through your post in NavLo fashion.... just this statement about a starting core...the 'Can be' caveat is insulation from reality. Locked in? You sure?
Right now, Booker starts by default. Would he keep his place when healthy Bled and Knight return ? My guess, yes, especially if the marketing department has anything to say about it. He makes the trade for Knight look even worse. (whoops, I did it again) But, you got me there. I am biased with Knightmare. Seems one of Bled or BK needs to be shipped. And if they need to be shipped, will they will get the starter treatment to amplify their perceived worth? (Sound familiar) But yes... Its Booker's job to lose. 90% chance he starts next season. This place will meltdown if not.
Len, the anointed future center ? He a brittle and has regressed. What was the logic again behind signing Chandler??? Are you sure it was about signing LMA? But yet, Len is the future starter??? One nagging injury after another. Surgeries at this young age ? I think he is heading to be a tall guy back up. I still have hope because he has yet to ever play with a true PG, well, may be Dragic, but we know how that turned out. If he can't stay healthy, he isn't part of any core. (Same goes for Bled) BTW, any bets he will be shelved for the season with that bum ankle ? Is it the same problematic one? Not a bad pick, as there were not many in that draft that have impacted teams.... except a couple centers taken later (Adams, Gobert) Len as a starter next season? ....<50% Due to health as much as talent.. big guys with bad wheels don't turn out well.
And Warren? Could be a starter ? Read this forum... 2 months ago he was a future all star... he put together a few good games... then the word got out. He can't cover any SFs, and is not a PF. A good scoring kind of tweener forward. We've seen several come out of college who had a difficult transition to the speed and athleticism you see nightly in the NBA. He is a 7-8th man in my book. Not a bad pick, but again, not one of my cornerstones. 0 % chance to start next yr. Well, 1% if Tucker is traded. and we don't draft Ingram or JBrown
Thank goodness you are not on the Archie train. Kid needs 2-3 more years of work. Fortunately, he has the time. But so did DJ Strawberry
So there... you have it... my biased assessment. Sorry to pizz in the hopeful youthmovemt cheerios...sorry if I'm not bandwagoning with the McDazzle love. Its very difficult to rebuild by Draft only... yet, it seems that is the path, for now. this draft is so important. Its sadly, what our season boils down to. Finally, a full blown tank. We should be landing a starter, but there is no certainties come draft day. GDit, just get the #1 for a change. At least there is no coin flip.
Booker is an obvious future starter. It would be fallacious to try and compare him, a rookie, to players like Knight and Bled who have been playing for years. The fact you even tried it shows the poisoning of the well.
Alex Len has improved or stayed the same in almost every major category this year. Take a look at his per-36 numbers. The biggest thing to me is that his assists are way up: more than DOUBLE the rate of last year. It shows he's playing more to the flow of the game. Even the eye test shows improvement that can be backed. If you look at his numbers on touches, he's getting more and more shots off of 1-2 dribbles as opposed to last year, and shooting about the same percentage. To me it seems like he's still very much growing as a players, but limited minutes and coaching turnover has obviously kept him from getting all that much play. Don't close the door on Len; he's got a future. Definitely not an All-Star but I'd bet my money on him starting long term for us within the next 2 years.
As for TJ, his defense is obviously something to be improved, but he's almost at a starting caliber level right now, in only his second year. His other commonly noted weakness - his 3pt% - has been covered. He's now shooting 40% on a middling 1.5 attempts. He's no sharpshooter of the Korver/Reddick/Curry variety, but at least he's a threat from out there. What's more important is that he's shown the ability to improve, and there's no reason to think that he won't continue to for the next few years. His defense has been up and down, but he's as efficient a scorer as they come, and he should start next year. The only reason to keep TJ on the bench (other than his D, which isn't even as horrendous as you'd like us to believe. His perimeter D is actually decent, but he must work on contesting inside. http://stats.nba.com/player/#!/203933/tracking/defense/ ) is if you want to have a scoring spark to come in and get some (Tony) buckets.
Even if TJ, Len, and to a faaaaaar lesser extent Archie (he's most definitely still a project) wind up at their floors and never improve beyond what they are, you still have a solid group of role players to surround a Devin Booker/whoever we draft top 5 this year (and hopefully next year too) with. Not only that, but these players are young and fit with the multitude of draft picks coming down the pipeline in the next few years. I agree that we've got an obvious tank ahead of us, but I've said that from the beginning. Our outlook isn't peaches and rainbows, but it also isn't the depths of hell as well. Our position is still far better now than it was 3 years ago. And disregarding any and all of that, it still has nothing to do with what I called you out on in the first place.
You're "draftees only have a 30/70 chance of being good" argument has more holes in it than swiss cheese.
1: I'd rather have 30% than 0% without a pick in the first place!
2: What about the Lakers pick, where if we had it in Philly's place we'd only have a 44% chance OF GETTING THAT PICK IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Simply put, you cannot wave off praise for McD on the acquisition of the Wizards pick while continuing to use the trade of the Lakers pick as a stick to beat him with. That is cherry picking of the highest order.
Stop with the hypocrisy. Have an opinion but let that opinion be reflective of facts. DO NOT try to bend and accept facts based on your opinion. That is absolutely backwards.
