When Do We Blow It Up?
- Thread starter Jdbraver137
- Start date
I either want us to come out and put a huge blowout on the pistons as a statement from the team that this is not over….or I’d rather get embarrassed again on our home court so we can get some action from Monte/ownership. Please, oh please, just don’t make this a so so effort where we scratch out a close win down the stretch against a below average team…. That likely pushes out the sense of urgency another game.
I want at least one if not two players that can contribute in the next year or two. Survey the whole league until you find that deal, Fox is an upgrade over a big chunk of the 29 other teams current point guard. Get a third team involved if necessary. We hold the cards for the next year. Maximize his value if a trade has to happen
Amen Thompson + Tari Eason would be a terrific core of trade package for Fox. Both of those guys are monster defenders and Eason is one of those guys that happens to be an excellent fit at PF next to Sabonis (great size, length, strength & athleticism and an excellent defender & shot blocker who can step out and hit the three).
Add Carter, Ellis, and Murray to Thompson and Eason and you have the makings of an elite defensive young core going forward.
Add Carter, Ellis, and Murray to Thompson and Eason and you have the makings of an elite defensive young core going forward.
I would call that in now if that was on the table. Even though I’m for sure asking for Amen and pitting all suitors against each other, Houston probably won’t trade us Amen. Having said that I’m going to ask and ask and ask. I would settle for Tari and Reed. I really want good players back over future draft capital because I think we can still put together a good team next year even if Fox isn’t on it.
The idea of trading for Cam Johnson has been growing on me even if Fox eventually asks out. I don’t want to give up Keon but if a first and Ellis would get it done I might do it as much as it would hurt. If you do end up with a deal with the Rockets this summer you could go with this:
Monk
Cam
Keegan
Tari
Sabonis
Carter
Reed
Deebo
Top ten pick
Isaac
Could still be a really fun team and you are longer and more athletic
Monk
Cam
Keegan
Tari
Sabonis
Carter
Reed
Deebo
Top ten pick
Isaac
Could still be a really fun team and you are longer and more athletic
If we're forced to trade Fox, building the team out with a defensive focus would get my attention. The potential hang-up here is that Thompson and Eason can't shoot which means Carter, Ellis, and Murray all need to be elite or else whoever is 7-9 in the rotation (presuming we also keep Sabonis) had better be at least decent from range. I almost want to gag as I'm writing this... I hate modern NBA basketball.
I get what you are saying but I think the 3 ball talk is a bit overblown. I posted this in another thread earlier but I picked a random game from 20 years ago and recorded every shot attempt for one quarter. If I remember correct there were 30 total shots with 16 of them being mid rangers and 4 three point attempts. I didn’t really find it more entertaining to watch an 18 footer over a 23 footer. Having said that I don’t like watching Boston because it feels like that’s all they do.
Unless there’s a team out there collecting Kentucky players like the Knicks then we have a base of what we’re gonna get. We’re not getting Amen Thompson or Stephon Castle I’ll bet on that, AD to lakers was an overpay as well cause GM lebron ran things there
We can’t survey the league Klutch and Fox are gonna have a list and it will be public the only hope is the list is at least five deep so teams battle it out
We can’t survey the league Klutch and Fox are gonna have a list and it will be public the only hope is the list is at least five deep so teams battle it out
Hell, Harden had ALL the baggage in the world, wanted to only go to one team, purposefully got fat... and the Nets still sent 3 FRP, 4 pick swaps, Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert to make it happen.
Guys like Fox, just heading into their prime, don't become available every year. And we seemingly do this with every guy who wants out (Oh, there's no way they'll pay that much for him he only wants to go to Team X!).... and that team pays the tag for him anyway. Again, stars at the level of Fox do not go to UFA. They get traded to their next destination. If a team star hunting wants a Fox level player, they have to pay up for it.
Guys like Fox, just heading into their prime, don't become available every year. And we seemingly do this with every guy who wants out (Oh, there's no way they'll pay that much for him he only wants to go to Team X!).... and that team pays the tag for him anyway. Again, stars at the level of Fox do not go to UFA. They get traded to their next destination. If a team star hunting wants a Fox level player, they have to pay up for it.
I often think how this would've all played out if we had just drafted Sengun instead of Davion in 2021. I remember there was a lot of talk about it at the time that we were interested in him and I actually thought that was gonna be our pick.
We wouldn't have had 3 young PGs all needing PT, would've had our young Sabonis-type and then still had Hali on the team or available to trade later on
We wouldn't have had 3 young PGs all needing PT, would've had our young Sabonis-type and then still had Hali on the team or available to trade later on
I’ve thought of that one also as a fork in the road/defining moment. More than sengun, if we had also just taken Trey Murphy, Jalen Johnson or Moses Moody there is an alternative universe of this team that might be light years ahead of the current version. During the beam team year, I felt like fate had a way of working out with the Mitchell decision, but looking back now it seems catastrophic. He was an undersized defense first point guard that couldn’t shoot and wasn’t much of a playmaker on a team that already had two star level prospects at the position. It was a confounding decision that now seems like a pattern with Monte’s obsession with building out this undersized team.
If the idea that he truly was BPA then we should have been able to get something for him when we ultimately moved him but instead had to pay to get rid of him. I know the whole Sasha situation complicates things but Toronto ultimately got off him for nothing, got Mitchell essentially free and we still had to give up a 2nd rd pick.
I don't know even where Sengun is today we'd be as good as with Domas but since that basically only translated to one playoff team thus far...
I don't know even where Sengun is today we'd be as good as with Domas but since that basically only translated to one playoff team thus far...
Again, it's the chicken or the egg. It's not the 3 point shooting per se, it's the fact that the NBA in it's pursuit of stat chasing (and the gambling involved more than likely) has chopped out big chunks of the physical aspect of the game and thus, the defensive side. If you allow players a way to combat "freedom of movement" away from the rim then see what happens. They still kind of allow that come playoff time. Last season the 3 point percentages dropped and as a result so did the attempts in the playoffs. The pace cratered as well. The one team that gets away with it are the Celics because they are built for the modern game on both sides. They are spearheaded by a great defensive G trio in White, Holiday, and Pritchard and have some switchable bigs.
The problem with the 3 point shooting, which yes, I believe is tied to physicality IMO, is that now there seems to be less separation between stars because it's simply easier to put up star numbers. They don't mean as much. That said, almost any player can probably put up scoring numbers with enough attempts since the NBA has so much talent but still. I think it comes down to if you can handle the ball even remotely like a guard you'll produce. If you can't? Eh, it's iffy unless a team is running Klay plays for you. The real test is Wemby. With the way the game is called now, it sure looks like the NBA is on the verge of watching a player fully break the game at some point. If they think they want that then get ready, people will keep getting more and more blah about the game. If it looks too easy, it is easy, and people will tune out regardless if 10 people make a million posts from somewhere in India on social media.
The problem with the 3 point shooting, which yes, I believe is tied to physicality IMO, is that now there seems to be less separation between stars because it's simply easier to put up star numbers. They don't mean as much. That said, almost any player can probably put up scoring numbers with enough attempts since the NBA has so much talent but still. I think it comes down to if you can handle the ball even remotely like a guard you'll produce. If you can't? Eh, it's iffy unless a team is running Klay plays for you. The real test is Wemby. With the way the game is called now, it sure looks like the NBA is on the verge of watching a player fully break the game at some point. If they think they want that then get ready, people will keep getting more and more blah about the game. If it looks too easy, it is easy, and people will tune out regardless if 10 people make a million posts from somewhere in India on social media.
I don’t think they are tuning out though. The NBA is more of a niche league and frankly it kind of always has been in some ways. It falls in line with hockey and baseball to some extent. The average American sports fan watches the NFL weekly and then maybe the NBA, MLB and NHL come playoff time or if there is a generational talent or premium matchup. It doesn’t help that the NFL got greedy and decided to have games 4 days a week and more during some parts of the season. Even stealing the Christmas spotlight. Couple that with the fact that younger people don’t have the attention span for 82 games and that almost no one under 30 watches tv at all it really isn’t a surprise that tv ratings are down. That doesn’t mean I don’t want som changes made. Allowing more physicality and less foul hunting are my biggest gripes
Trading Fox for a collection of recent lottery picks on rookie contracts + multiple firsts isn't exactly a firesale if we try to build around these guys + Domas and Keegan and Carter and Monk.
In some ways it's more like trading Richmond or J-Will, you're not giving up as much as you are rolling the urgency clock back an hour or two.
In some ways it's more like trading Richmond or J-Will, you're not giving up as much as you are rolling the urgency clock back an hour or two.
