robillionaire wrote:A large part of the criticism is just because people want Obi to play more and are becoming infatuated with his 7ppg and fast break dunks
That is part of it, I suppose
I don't feel like Obi is the long term answer, and he shouldn't be starting. His best asset is his energy off the bench (which is kind of sad for a 23 year old 8th overall pick, but if we ignore his draft position, I like it), which you're right would be neutralized if he were the starter. He's a nice change of pace guy, and while his fast break points would add a new dynamic, it wouldn't be enough to make up for his flaws over starter minutes
For me, what's frustrating is that Randle looks like he's putting less into it than he did last year. Like he got paid and is getting lazy
He's on a large deal, but it's not so large that he's a complete liability, it's just that if we got last year's Julius it'd be a great value contract, where now it's a slight overpay based on how he's played this year
I think it's just regression to the mean. Everybody in the starting lineup is playing worse than they did last year (including guys we didn't have), where last year we had guys play well above how they had before
I don't believe in making a drastic move like trading for a star unless the price is right this year, because I always felt this year was just gonna be us treading water and waiting for the opportune moment, but it's clear we will have to make a move sooner or later. Randle is not a true #1, and while that doesn't make him a bad player (and is more an indictment of the FO for not putting him in the right spot to succeed), because he's our de facto #1, he will be held to a higher standard than the rest of the team.