People need to forget about that statement. While they may have wanted it to be about wins and losses this year, the day DMC got viral meningitis was pretty much the day that plan went out the window. A lot of stuff has happened since that comment was made, and yet people keep referring back to it as though it was cast in stone.
I think where everyone is missing the point, is that it's apples and oranges. Draft picks are what they are. In general, building blocks for the future, not the now. You can't and shouldn't compare a draft pick to an experienced freeagent that you might sign. You sign or trade for experienced players, for that very reason, they're experienced. The mind set seems to be that everyone expects a draft pick to come in and make the all star team. Draft picks take time, and if their going to progress rapidly, then they need to get serious minutes to do so. Last year McLemore, rightly or wrongly averaged 27 mpg. He made a lot of mistakes and many times looked totally lost, but the result, along with a lot of hard work, was great improvement this season. He still has a long way to go to be what many of us hope he'll eventually be, but the improvement is obvious.
Nik is averaging just under 14 mpg this year, and the argument could be made, that despite his struggles, he's looked better overall than McLemore did last season. At times he's looked a little lost on defense, but offensively, poor outside shooting aside, he's never looked lost. The question is, how much better might he be, if he had gotten the minutes McLemore got last season. And I'm not advocating that. Nik is being handled the way most rookies are handled around the league. McLemore was an aberration not the norm, and so is Payton who is averaging 28 mpg. Does anyone think Payton would be getting those minutes if he were on the Kings? Not likely. I've nothing against Payton. He was on my list of choices for the Kings. My biggest knock was his outside shootiing. I would have chose Stauskas over him then because of overall skill level. It remains to be seen who will be the better player in two or three years. I could give you reasons why either player could end up being the better player.
Of course your argument is that the draft pick alone is some sort of detriment holding us back from becoming a good team. I couldn't disagree more. A draft pick is never a detriment. How the powers that be, use that draft pick could be detrimental though. I understand your point. As it stands now, it's impossible to use the pick in a trade until draft day itself, when you can trade the player you drafted. But it's not that big a problem. You can always have a wink/wink handshake in advance. Where it can hurt, is not having it to trade when an opportunity presents itself. Such as right before the trade deadline. So I don't disagree that it's an irritating situation, that in all likelyhood will go away next season.
What I would like to say, and I'm speaking generally, is that none of this is Nik's fault. But he seems to be taking the blunt of everyone's ire. If he has one turnover, he's a turnover machine, while in the same game, Gay, or Cuz might have 5 or 6 turnovers. I realize that he's an easy target, and once you become a target, it's hard to get out of sight. In his last five games, he's gone 6 for 10 from beyond the arc. Has anyone noticed? Improvement comes in small doses during the season. Everyone see's him driving to the basket, being more aggressive, and thinks he's being taught new tricks under Karl. Bullcrap! This is the kind of stuff he did at Michigan. It's always been there. The difference is that he's been given the green light. He's actually having the ball passed to him. You can't do squat if you never touch the ball. Put yourself in his shoes. Your a rookie and your on the floor with Cousins and Gay. Are you really going to demand the ball? I think not!
Nik is averaging just under 14 mpg this year, and the argument could be made, that despite his struggles, he's looked better overall than McLemore did last season. At times he's looked a little lost on defense, but offensively, poor outside shooting aside, he's never looked lost. The question is, how much better might he be, if he had gotten the minutes McLemore got last season. And I'm not advocating that. Nik is being handled the way most rookies are handled around the league. McLemore was an aberration not the norm, and so is Payton who is averaging 28 mpg. Does anyone think Payton would be getting those minutes if he were on the Kings? Not likely. I've nothing against Payton. He was on my list of choices for the Kings. My biggest knock was his outside shootiing. I would have chose Stauskas over him then because of overall skill level. It remains to be seen who will be the better player in two or three years. I could give you reasons why either player could end up being the better player.
Of course your argument is that the draft pick alone is some sort of detriment holding us back from becoming a good team. I couldn't disagree more. A draft pick is never a detriment. How the powers that be, use that draft pick could be detrimental though. I understand your point. As it stands now, it's impossible to use the pick in a trade until draft day itself, when you can trade the player you drafted. But it's not that big a problem. You can always have a wink/wink handshake in advance. Where it can hurt, is not having it to trade when an opportunity presents itself. Such as right before the trade deadline. So I don't disagree that it's an irritating situation, that in all likelyhood will go away next season.
What I would like to say, and I'm speaking generally, is that none of this is Nik's fault. But he seems to be taking the blunt of everyone's ire. If he has one turnover, he's a turnover machine, while in the same game, Gay, or Cuz might have 5 or 6 turnovers. I realize that he's an easy target, and once you become a target, it's hard to get out of sight. In his last five games, he's gone 6 for 10 from beyond the arc. Has anyone noticed? Improvement comes in small doses during the season. Everyone see's him driving to the basket, being more aggressive, and thinks he's being taught new tricks under Karl. Bullcrap! This is the kind of stuff he did at Michigan. It's always been there. The difference is that he's been given the green light. He's actually having the ball passed to him. You can't do squat if you never touch the ball. Put yourself in his shoes. Your a rookie and your on the floor with Cousins and Gay. Are you really going to demand the ball? I think not!
I'll agree to a degree. The minute Malone was fired was the minute the FO no longer cared about wins and losses.
That said, we are now in an extended "evaluation period", and as much as it chaps my ass, I'm willing to ride it out because Karl needs to see what he has in terms of players. Film is no substitute for what you see in person.
Absolutely chaps me, but that's where we are, and I'm willing to roll because we have no real choice. It's ugly right now, for sure, but I feel hope we won't see this next year.
It's not like the FO is going to can Karl for not winning this year, right? They should listen to him where they likely didn't listen to Malone, and I think we'll see new faces and likely better play.
That said, we are now in an extended "evaluation period", and as much as it chaps my ass, I'm willing to ride it out because Karl needs to see what he has in terms of players. Film is no substitute for what you see in person.
Absolutely chaps me, but that's where we are, and I'm willing to roll because we have no real choice. It's ugly right now, for sure, but I feel hope we won't see this next year.
It's not like the FO is going to can Karl for not winning this year, right? They should listen to him where they likely didn't listen to Malone, and I think we'll see new faces and likely better play.
And that decision came when they realized DMC had meningitis, we weren't going to win, and they could throw Malone under the bus.I heartily disagree. It's not about letting management off the hook. It's about real life. Things happen and plans change.
I do not doubt for one instant that the front office truly wanted this year to be about wins and losses. They just didn't understand that the team as currently constructed wasn't going to be able to get those wins and losses. So they tinkered - but not in the right way. They got rid of the coach who had us headed in the right direction and, when combined with DMC's totally unforeseen illness, they were quickly up to their arse in alligators, with the original goal of draining the swamp a distant memory.
I do not doubt for one instant that the front office truly wanted this year to be about wins and losses. They just didn't understand that the team as currently constructed wasn't going to be able to get those wins and losses. So they tinkered - but not in the right way. They got rid of the coach who had us headed in the right direction and, when combined with DMC's totally unforeseen illness, they were quickly up to their arse in alligators, with the original goal of draining the swamp a distant memory.
More specifically (and sorry to keep flogging the expired equine), they didn't understand that the team as constructed could have been about wins and losses, but that it would have required them to concede that the personnel they assembled couldn't win playing the style they wanted them to play in. Either that, or they decided that they'd rather lose playing their way than win playing Malone's way, and so they convinced themselves that Malone's style was not capable of winning in the long term.
That has amazed me as well, he is a rookie that really hasn't been used well in my opinion. I think what is happening around here is people are getting tired of our draft picks not developing that we have brought out the short leash. We got a little spoiled by the quick development of guys like Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins that we kind of forgot that it typically takes draft picks a few years to develop. Although it doesn't help that these guys really haven't shown much at all in their early careers, not a glimmer of hope to hang on to.
I think there is more to it than that though. It's not just the players, it's the culture. I really believe that there are numerous great players in this league who are great because they were drafted by the right teams who developed them correctly. Also there have been many busts who would have been great, but weren't because they were drafted by the wrong teams and weren't developed properly. A lot of players get brought up around who we passed on in the draft to pick guys like Jimmer, Robinson, McLemore, and Stauskas, but I'm not so sure these other guys would have done well here. Here are some names: Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Elfrid Payton, and there are others. I don't think any of them develop here, they all had plenty of holes in their games when drafted.
Just my opinion, but I think Stauskas is in the rookie of the year race if he drafted on several other teams, he is too skilled to be playing like this. We will see what happens, but he fits the George Karl system like a glove, one season of experience and one offseason of expanding his game could do wonders.
I think there is more to it than that though. It's not just the players, it's the culture. I really believe that there are numerous great players in this league who are great because they were drafted by the right teams who developed them correctly. Also there have been many busts who would have been great, but weren't because they were drafted by the wrong teams and weren't developed properly. A lot of players get brought up around who we passed on in the draft to pick guys like Jimmer, Robinson, McLemore, and Stauskas, but I'm not so sure these other guys would have done well here. Here are some names: Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Elfrid Payton, and there are others. I don't think any of them develop here, they all had plenty of holes in their games when drafted.
Just my opinion, but I think Stauskas is in the rookie of the year race if he drafted on several other teams, he is too skilled to be playing like this. We will see what happens, but he fits the George Karl system like a glove, one season of experience and one offseason of expanding his game could do wonders.