Young_Buc wrote:In the alternate universe where KD chooses Raptors over GS... how many titles do we win? Is Derozan still traded for Kawhi or nah?
We didn't have the kind of capspace that GSW ended up with, so there is a decent enough chance that if KD specifically wants Toronto,it happens via S&T and OKC asks for Demar + package, who at that point was still mostly considered our best player. We likely win at least one title, but also dominate atop the EC more than we did, with multiple years of TOR vs CLE in the ECF.
KD is the prefect guy to slot into this existing roster also, but he's signed a 4 year extension that ranges from $43 to $53 million over that span, which covers his 34-37 year old span - which is risky towards the tail end. It would take an offer of Pascal + Fred + picks for them to even consider any offer from us, if they allow us to exclude Barnes from the deal, but I can't see them budging from Kevin until something major happens that makes them re-evaluate the next few years.
I kinda feel like Scottie is like our Tim Duncan. I am obviously NOT comparing him in terms of value or career trajectory, but if you consider that both teams were very good in the lead up to a very bad season that won them a high pick, the path to being a very good team can be similar in terms of how quickly it happens. This is a learning year, but with the talent we have, next year should be considered as a fully contending season and we should make our plans accordingly. The Spurs drafted Felipe Lopez the following season and packaged him to Vancouver for Antonio Daniels, who was a contributor to their title run that season. Not saying we're Finals bound next season either, but we have to recognize that we have a core group that already has rings and we've added some very good pieces and a budding young superstar to that group.
We don't have to wait 3-5 years for our young guys to get better and gel before making moves to solidify what should be a deep playoffs roster. There isn't a need to do it this season, though there is some very sound logic in using some assets we have now that work towards that goal, as once guys like Dragic and Boucher are gone, our ability to use them as assets goes away and since we won't have money to spend on FAs next year, I do think there has to be a succession plan in place for those asset/salary slots to be used THIS year. What we get back may not help us this year and just kicks the can the road where we have extra trade capital at the draft or next season, but at least there IS a can to trade at that point.