PhillyPhilly wrote:
Again this is such a misguided post it's stunning tbh
1. He traded for Butler and totally won that trade by getting rid of average players like Cov and Dario..before we traded for Jimmy it was clear we didn't have enough talent to compete for the championship. Butler didn't get on with Brown and had a reputation of being hard to deal with so how the hell is that Brand's fault? In the end we got s decent SG in JRich on a decent contract..so we lost nothing.
Butler had asked out and was not too polite about it so his value was naturally very low. Dont bring Richardson in the discussion because that is not related to Brand. Had Butler wanted to go to a team with cap space we wouldnt get anything. But the trade itself is also problematic. For one it killed the team chemistry. Last year, like this year, was seen as a failure save from the Toronto series which might have also been a fluke. The team was dysfunctional from last year and in fact the regular season wins were fewer compared to the season before. Moreover, when a team trades and gives assets for a star they generally have an understanding that he will sign a contract the following year with his new team (other than obvious exceptions like Leonard). So either Brand never made such an agreement or he regretted the trade or the team he built was so dysfunctional that Butler had no interest in staying any more. Whatever it is, it is mostly on Brand.
PhillyPhilly wrote:2. He then traded a role player (Shamet) and a first round pick that was never gonna be in the lottory positions, for a 26 year old mismatch weapon who was scoring 20 ppg and shooting the three at near 45% ..that trade gave us a starting five that was hailed as the BEST in the league...and when they played together they had an incredible record up until the Kawhi last minute bucket.
Shamet is at least a useful roleplayer and a first round pick could net us another one. How useful is Harris on that contract? Jerry West valued him at a round 20 mil. But Jerry West wants to win, Brand ties to keep his job as long as possible. The stats you cite are for basically a year and some months in 2018-2019 and it was not 45% but around 42%. Never before or after did he approach these numbers. Harris is good for 17-18 ppg at about average efficiency while not contributing defensively or being a play maker. He is also not a real fit in the offense. He wants the ball in his hands to get his offense but is not very good with it. Ideally he should do that on a bad team that will allow it. If you have any aspirations you dont give 35 mil for that. It is a terrible contract and the whole league knows that.
PhillyPhilly wrote:3. The AL deal may not look great now but many thought it was a good deal at the time and again our starting five was seen as among the best in the league..by getting him we weakened Boston and also had a good back-up for Jo if he got hurt again..not his best work but no GM is perfect.
Indeed not his best work.
PhillyPhilly wrote:4. He also traded Fultz and now we have a 21st pick out of it..and the Matisse and Shake picks look good, plus picking up Alec Burks too
So anyone suggesting Brand has done a bad job is talking nonsense imo...Brett Brown is the one to blame...not him.
Sure, the fact that the team needs to have Milton or Burks run the playoff offense while their is a clear redundancy in the 4 and 5 positions is Browns fault. Or the fact that there is no perimeter creation is Brown's fault.
Brand is a terrible GM who always went for the low hanging fruits, overpaying mediocre players as if there was some competition and the results show that. He has spent all the cap space and assets, has burdened the team with negative contracts that will need further assets to move and the team is completely dysfunctional, the chemistry destroyed and they win less games than 2 years ago.
