I don't know hrdboild, this sounds great in theory but it's really just equivalent to singing Kumbaya around a camp fire.
I think everyone knows that discussing anything on this site is futile. We all just do it for entertainment. You can't change natural human emotions with patience and culture building. No one is happy losing with no glimmer of hope in sight. That goes for players and fans. Patience, bridge building and attempts at reinforcing positive culture isn't going to change the natural human behavior of being angry about losing. It's tolerable when you can see wins on the horizon but that's about the only time it's tolerable.
I think everyone knows that discussing anything on this site is futile. We all just do it for entertainment. You can't change natural human emotions with patience and culture building. No one is happy losing with no glimmer of hope in sight. That goes for players and fans. Patience, bridge building and attempts at reinforcing positive culture isn't going to change the natural human behavior of being angry about losing. It's tolerable when you can see wins on the horizon but that's about the only time it's tolerable.
Not enough? Okay, here's the main point of contention for me. If you think the Barnes contract is a problem than unloading him for assets is really just going to result in us then moving those assets for another Barnes contract. How do I know this? Because the guys who built this roster brought Barnes here in the first place. They brought all of these players here actually. If the team is actually going to move on they need to move on from Vlade/Luke but as I already pointed out, that path of action feels equally futile to me. That would mean moving on from far more than just Barnes. So do we trade Barnes today for a different Barnes tomorrow or do we toss it all in the garbage and give someone else a shot? Or do we just shrug and appreciate that these guys don't play for the Seattle Supersonics? We can be lovable losers. We don't need to be seething disgruntled losers. Same record either way.
Also, I fully endorse the singing of songs around a campfire but I've never liked Kumaya, how about Mr. Tambourine Man instead? Have you read the lyrics to that one? It seems more appropriate to our situation.
That's not the question that should be answered though. That kind of thinking is why the team is bad. The question that should be answered is: "How does the team improve its position overall and maintain an advantage for future growth". Example: denying the option on Giles was a dumb move, regardless of their intent on retaining him, because it is a less advantageous position with fewer options the team has to work with. With Barnes, the question isn't "Who do we plug into the SF position that's better than who we have", because this team is a lottery team and Barnes isn't helping that effort. It doesn't matter at this point. What matters is having options, like picks, trades flexibility, etc. This team doesn't have flexibility because of bad deals, and doesn't have many picks for the same reason. They've limited their flexibility to obtain/retain talent, and it is the wrong talent that isn't helping.
So I say to you again, what are we so angry about? We could write a million angry posts on the internet about how such and such veteran is holding us back... are they though? Are they really? That's why a hundred different players over 14 years have all failed in exactly the same way? I'm sure you think you're being logical, I once thought the same way. A man knows nothing though unless he first knows what he doesn't know. Or something. I'm paraphrasing. That is, what I really mean to say is that the players could be overpaid or they could be underpaid or they could just be paid but unless there's a system in place which maximizes the talent on the roster, continually develops the players we already have into better versions of themselves, and makes everyone happy to come to work everyday and fight like hell to be the best team on the floor that night, none of this even matters. I'll root for that. I don't care who is on the team, I care about the team culture being something I'm proud of. And yes, even the fans play a role in making that happen.