Dadouv47 wrote:Pillendreher wrote:bondom34 wrote:Probably not 25. But easily 20.
I'd rather be OKC than:
ATL
Brooklyn
Charlotte
Chicago
Dallas
Denver
Detroit
Maybe Houston
Indiana
Lakers
Maybe Clippers
NOLA
Minnesota
MKE
Miami
New York
ORL
Philly
PHX
Portland
Sacramento
Washington
And I'd even debate Toronto and Utah because Utah will be having cap trouble in a year and Toronto's stuck until Lebron retires. So that's 20-24 teams at least.
The other option? Trade Russ. Draft high for 5 years and maybe make the playoffs by the time Adams hits his prime. If they're lucky. Currently this roster is 2nd youngest in the NBA.
I'd add Toronto and Utah. Toronto is never gonna amount to anything and would probably get massacred against any upper tier WC team. Utah because they lack starpower. Talk about Gobert all you want, but that team solely consists of 4th options.
I'd probably take out Minny tho. Too much raw talent for them to be bad for years to come.
Clippers? lol
Lakers sure but they can atract a lot of freeagents, so not so sure.
Philly in 5 years ? not sure about that.
Miami? Can attract a lot of players as well.
Chicago is in a way better situation for the future ( not for the next 2 years)
Minny are in a way better situation. Don't know how you can compare both.
The pacers are not in such a bad situation, but it's up to you to consider we are so great.
As others have said, OKC isn't in that bad of a spot when you consider that some teams are at dead ends with no upside (Memphis for example) or don't have the firepower to compete with the truly elite teams, but have a lot of money invested now or soon will (Portland, Utah). I don't know for certain that Minny is in such a great situation. Sure Towns is great, but Wiggins/Lavine are one dimensional for the most part, and none of the three can play defense. Kris Dunn had a lot of hype coming out of the draft, but he looks like he might just be a good defensive point guard that can't shoot very well. Thibs is also getting impatient with them and you cant rule out a trade to bring in a vet at some point. Pacers are in a rough spot because Paul George will be a free agent after next season and Indy is struggling to make the playoffs in the East. Chicago is just screwed.... If you look at that team, something is VERY wrong. Wade is old, Rondo is trash/ volatile (take your pick). Jimmy is far and away the best player and I don't know if he is a #1 option on a contender. Chicago fans are starting to turn on Hoiberg. I'm not impressed with their young players except Valentine/ McDermott. MCW is ....not very good. Milwaukee is the team in the East that has the most current upside in my opinion just because a core of Jabari and Giannis has great potential if you surround them with talent. Philly could be really good, but it depends on who they draft this year and if Simmons is as good as they hope he is.
Miami need to draft a franchise player b/c Whiteside is most definitely not it.
Lakers

I don't think any of those guys are franchise guys except maybe Ingram but he needs a few years to marinate. D'Angelo and Randle could be good supporting pieces though.
IMO (Not the word of God or anything) Lots of teams in the league suffer from the same problem. They have no superstar player and need to get one to get to the next level.
Since its a short list here are the teams that I think have a guy that you can say is a superstar/ franchise guy
Portland(Dame)--OKC(Russ)--Chicago(Jimmy)--Indiana(George)--Golden State(they have two)--Cleveland(they have two)--Clippers(Have two)--San Antonio(Kawhi)--New York(Depends on what you think of Porzingis)--Sacramento(Boogie)--Minnesota(Towns)--NO(AD)--Milwaukee(Giannis)--Houston(Beard)
Honorable Mention Philly-(Embiid)
Some of those are arguable, but every other team wants at least one guy and any playoff team that doesn't have one is fools gold I'm afraid.
So you don't trade Russ unless he walks up to Presti and says "TRADE ME OR I'M LEAVING IN FREE AGENCY"