Personally, I'd rather just give Jimmer away, than make some deal for other players that probably won't fit. We've spent, at least the last two years, drafting, or trading for players that are either partially over the hill (Salmons) or borderline NBA players, with little regard to how the pieces fit together. I'm fairly sure that Jimmer was a Maloof pick. But we could have had Leonard among'st others. We could have had Drummond instead of Robinson. I'll be the first to admit that I had reservations about Drummond, but there was no denying his talent, and he did fit a need, as did Leonard.
Whats done is done, but its time we started filling roster spots with players that compliment each other, instead of getting rid of a player like Jimmer, and replacing him with another player that contributes little, simply because that's all we could get in return. I'd rather just cut my losses and let him walk. I want players that can contribute now, or show the potential to contribute in the future. What I don't want is someone riding the end of the bench just because there's room for his butt there. Its time that we start drafting the best player available again, regardless of position, and regardless of projection. If you do the proper homework, your decision won't be affected by media hype, which I believe was the case with Thomas Robinson.
The idea of trading away a player that actually has value to the team (Patterson), in order to sweeten the pot to move Jimmer is the kind of move that has to stop. If Jimmer is that large of a mistake, then swallow hard, trade him for a pick, or keep him for the season, and then let him walk. Personally I think he has some value. As an ender if nothing else. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say, and there's always a team out there that thinks they can get something out of a player that we didn't. And to be honest, based on the last few years, its hard to argue against that idea. There's been little or no player development. We've thrown players out on the floor with little direction. There appears to be no offensive or defensive plan, as in actually running plays. And then we wonder why most of our homegrown players all look inept, while average players we obtain in a trade all look like they know what their doing. The organization has become a failure factory.
The finest race car in the world is worthless if you don't have a good driver behind the wheel. Actually, your not sure you have a great race car until you put a good driver behind the wheel to test it. Any team is the same! Until you have a good coach behind the wheel, your not sure exactly how good or bad your team is. No, I'm not saying that just maybe there's a championship team hiding under the covers. But it is possible that the team could be better than 28 wins if managed properly. Trying to acquire a superstar, or just a so called star is a no brainer. You don't need a visit from god to figure that one out. But the players you surround those stars with are equally important. And that's an area that's been lacking at best, or ignored completely at worse. Its time for this team to start looking like what its called, a team.