No, no, no, no, no! A lot of players have become the player of the day and pulled down nice contracts yet resume to normal. And ignoring that, why exactly do we need to improve our guards? We have an interesting guy in Reke, we have Thornton who I suspect I have far more faith in that most people here, we have Jimmer who will add something and we have guys who can slide to the 2 position in Cisco and Salmons. Thomas is there for spot minutes and emergencies - an upgrade from Pooh, I suspect.
I'm not even sure where Barea and his contract would fit. He was great. I will grant that. Is he better than Jimmer or Thornton? I don't think that can be answered as they are largely unknowns but appear to have large upsides.
I may be the only one here that feels this way, but I think Reke and Thornton can be scary on the offensive side as they compliment each other nicely. There is the hidden truth that I think Thornton is greatful to be playing and will not be bothered at Reke's present ball dominant style. Defensively, at the least they are physically strong and at the most with more experience, might be darn good considering their value is primarily on the offensive end. These two fit with what we have and at some point you have to look at the rest of the players in an 8-9 man rotation.
I am not going to detail what I see (I'll leave that to Brick) but this is a real TEAM.
Given a great coach, it would NOT be a 6-8th seed but better. Am I a homer? I don't think so when I say this. Give them a couple years together and simply for the sake of exprience in the NBA and I will be disappointed if they settle for 6-8th.