What if you never get that star? Watching a team tank year after year can get tiresome. I'd prefer a team compete because I actually like watching my team win. Teams rarely go from bottom dweller to contenders in a season. You take steps. Get to the playoffs first, draw some talented free agents who want to join a winning team, and build chemistry.
My grandmother told me a long time ago that "if" is for children. No offense intended. I get your point. What this comes down, to is what is your philosophy for building a team. If your the GM, you have to pick one, and then stick with it. What you don't do, is do one for a few years, and then change and try another way. When you do that, you end where the Kings are right now, starting over, with another new philosophy.
The Kings have decided to rebuild through the draft and by acquiring assets. Those assets, and perhaps some of the players that they've drafted may be turned into other players down the road, or perhaps more assets. That's the road they have chosen, and it's a proven road if done correctly. That's how the Warriors got to where they are. Did anyone here know that Curry was going to be a franchise player when the Warriors drafted him? I sure didn't. I mean I liked him, but I had questions about him prior to the draft.
So sitting here now, and saying you want to make sure you draft a franchise player is sort of silly. I mean, of course you do. Who doesn't? But there are no guarantee's. Drafting 5th isn't a guarantee. It increases your odds, but that's about all. What you don't do is reach for position. If the player you really want (Fox) is gone, then you take the best player available, not the next best PG available.... Unless he happens to be the best player available. At the end of the day, if you end up with a really good starting player, you've been successful and you've obtained another solid piece to your team. Lets all remember, we're building a TEAM.
I emphasis that because one franchise player won't do it for you. You'll win more games with five solid team players than you will with one franchise player and four on lookers. At the end of the day, I care about how many wins the team has, and not how many all star games my franchise player has gone to. And I'm not against having a franchise. Give me two of them, maybe three. My point is, build the team, and they will come, or develop. I like develop the best, because they develop within the system of the team. Everyone is on the same page. The last thing the team should do right now, is anything that comes from the mentality of, we've got to make the playoffs next year.
If that happens, then it happens, but it happens within the process of the philosophy your using. Your not force feeding at a high cost. I think the Kings are finally on the right track and they need to stick to their guns. It's a shame that it didn't happen sooner. If it had, maybe Cousins would still be here, and be a part of something special. But that win now philosophy destroyed any chance of that happening. That was fools gold.