I would even throw in Keon... However, the going rate for players seem to be insane these days.. not sure 3 1sts would be enough. Mikal is probably your 3rd or 4th best player on a contending team. If we were able to acquire him, we would only be only 1 piece away from being contenders
I'm really high on Colby's NBA future but I would do this deal so flipping fast.
A lot of "big 3s" are also absolute trash. Arguably the teams winning championships were largely built from within, Miami Heat and LAL have particular advantages other teams assembling stars don't have and we certainly don't and never will.
But it really feels like we are reaching for a "third star" and not looking for a guy who can contribute to what we are already doing in many of these scenarios. If we got the right pieces and win 3 out of 4 in say 2026-2029 (ie starting 2.5 seasons from now) I am sure Keegan would be Star 3.
Man, it would be a dream to get Mikal Bridges while not giving up anything too big.
I would even throw in Keon... However, the going rate for players seem to be insane these days.. not sure 3 1sts would be enough. Mikal is probably your 3rd or 4th best player on a contending team. If we were able to acquire him, we would only be only 1 piece away from being contenders
I think we would only need a big enforcer type player. Length + strength for the playoffs and we'd be setWe get him without giving up Keegan we’re legit contenders rather easily we’d need a third team though
I think we would only need a big enforcer type player. Length + strength for the playoffs and we'd be set
I think we would only need a big enforcer type player. Length + strength for the playoffs and we'd be set
if Monte doesn’t find the guy he wants I bet he waits until the offseason to look again. By then, our pick likely conveys and we have a clear path to trade those. Plus who knows who becomes available. I think Monte is calculated enough to strike when the moment is right.
The question is whether or not Monte can wait. This is a team that knows moves are trying to be made and we know what it looks like when players are counting down days in their heads.
I don’t think he needs to rush. As Slater pointed out we have one core guy just beginning his prime, one will enter it next year or the year after and one who is a 3 years away from his prime. Plus prime can be 28-33 depending on the player. In theory we have a wide window.
To me a super team is largely made up of 3 stars that all do the same thing and try to make it work. I’m not really making an argument for Lavine but Fox, Sabonis, Keegan and Lavine all get their points and shots in a different way so there isn’t the redundancy. You can still fill that 5th starter with a defensive role player. Historically championship teams have a top 5 player, which we don’t have. How do we overcome that? I don’t know that I have the answer, I’m just unconvinced two defensive role players added to our current team gets it done. Now if Keegan goes 2 levels higher that’s a different conversation.
I don't know how we decide who is or is not a "top 5 player". I think if we were to poll the forum there may be as many as 15 different players in the league who fit that category for someone. Fox has slumped a bit of late but for most of this season he was right near or within the top 5 in scoring. He's also at the very least above average for his position defensively and last I checked he was 6th overall in steals per game. Doesn't that make him a top 5 player? Sabonis leads the league in double-doubles and rebounds and lately he's putting up triple double games more often than not. That may not be top 5 exactly if that includes dominant isolation scoring ability, but it's close. Maybe you can win without a true MVP if you have two guys who are in the next tier just below that? Especially if your #3 is a guy like Keegan who is in Year 2 of his NBA career and has put up a 47 point game and shown evidence of All-Defense potential.
Where I diverge from your team building philosophy is that it appears you want 4 dominant scorers and one defender on the floor for the bulk of the game and I think that works for stats and accolades and good press and All-Star spots but it doesn't work in the playoffs. and it's not a viable long-term strategy for sustained success. We lost that Golden State series in large part because Kevon Looney kicked our butts on the boards. Swap him out for another scorer like Siakam and maybe we even win that series? The role-players aren't just guys who fill in around the edges -- you cannot win with any kind of consistency unless you have multiple role-players on the floor complimenting your stars or your stars are doing lots of role-player things (ie locking people up on defense and hitting catch and shoot threes regularly).
We're not going to take the next step by adding another 20 ppg scorer (just look at Phoenix this season) nor are we going to get there by adding just 1 defender but continuing to play a 3pt chucking lineup in every 4th quarter. It's going to take a team-wide commitment to defense from every guy on the roster and an understanding that more than 3 guys are not going to score in double figures every night. The quickest way to get us there is to add multiple guys who will contribute toward building that culture -- guys who only care about dominating on defense but can hit an occasional jumper iwhen they're left open.
I get it, I just think we have to be elite at something. There are currently 13 teams better than us on offense and we are a middle of the pack on defense. We have to figure out how to be near the top in one of those and closer to top ten in the other to have a real shot. If it’s defense, great but that probably means a new power forward, shooting guard and another bench defender, and even then 14th in offense won’t get it done.
As far as player rankings go, they are subjective of course but someone who knows ball without a rooting interest would prob have Fox in the 6-10 range and Sabonis 13-18. That’s my best guess anyway.
I get it, I just think we have to be elite at something. There are currently 13 teams better than us on offense and we are a middle of the pack on defense. We have to figure out how to be near the top in one of those and closer to top ten in the other to have a real shot. If it’s defense, great but that probably means a new power forward, shooting guard and another bench defender, and even then 14th in offense won’t get it done.
As far as player rankings go, they are subjective of course but someone who knows ball without a rooting interest would prob have Fox in the 6-10 range and Sabonis 13-18. That’s my best guess anyway.
If Fox is in that 6-10 range, how many of the guys above him are on the tail end of their careers or nearing retirement? KD, Steph, and Lebron are all 35 and older. It would only take a few of them to fall out of that tier for him to sneak in there. I think maybe that's close enough? Certainly it's better than this franchise has had in a long long time.
I agree with this in principle that the team needs to be elite at something but it seems to me if the difference between top 3 in offense (last year) and 14th in offense this year is just guys hitting or not hitting their threes than that's just too much variance for me to be happy about. Building a dominant defensive team feels like a more stable foundation. And we're not that far off considering we only have one good wing defender (Keegan) in the rotation and we're middle of the pack right now instead of bottom 5. I wonder how hard it would be to just find 3 guys on the waiver wire or free agency or trading block who are just balls to the wall defenders and see if they mix well with our high scoring core. We could just rotate in minimum contract guys on unguaranteed deals until we find a group that works.
They fall off and will get replaced I see SGA/Wemby replacing two of them as it is
If Fox is in that 6-10 range, how many of the guys above him are on the tail end of their careers or nearing retirement? KD, Steph, and Lebron are all 35 and older. It would only take a few of them to fall out of that tier for him to sneak in there. I think maybe that's close enough? Certainly it's better than this franchise has had in a long long time.
I agree with this in principle that the team needs to be elite at something but it seems to me if the difference between top 3 in offense (last year) and 14th in offense this year is just guys hitting or not hitting their threes than that's just too much variance for me to be happy about. Building a dominant defensive team feels like a more stable foundation. And we're not that far off considering we only have one good wing defender (Keegan) in the rotation and we're middle of the pack right now instead of bottom 5. I wonder how hard it would be to just find 3 guys on the waiver wire or free agency or trading block who are just balls to the wall defenders and see if they mix well with our high scoring core. We could just rotate in minimum contract guys on unguaranteed deals until we find a group that works.
Is it safe to say the work it back approach failed by Monte? In the west if you are not making progress you are regressing. Move is need rather soon than later now.
In any case that's at least up for debate. SGA, Haliburton, Maxey, Tatum, Wemby... they're all in that next man up tier waiting to sneak in to the MVP discussion. But also, nothing is guaranteed. Ja Morant looked like a sure-thing to join that MVP tier last season and where is he now? Did Anthony Davis ever make it there despite sky-high expectations on draft night? Is Zion Williamson even relevant anymore? I think Fox, as of this season, is squarely in the mix with all of these guys.
SGA has speared himself from those other guys he’d be in mvp talks daily if he didn’t play in OKC. As much as I hate Morant dude came back to a team that was top 3 bad and instantly looked elite from game 1 with him. Our only hope is Keegan he’s gonna determine how high the ceiling goes. Also speaking of SGA my god Presti did it again Chet/SGA/Jalen are all elite players Jalen is an all star in his second year and he’ll Chet might be too
I've liked SGA since his time at Kentucky so I don't want to get labeled a hater here but his resume is inflated to hell right now by ridiculous officiating sending him to the line 8-10 times a game, even when he's the one who initiates contact. I don't see him as a clear level above Fox as a player -- just as a flopper. And as a person with standards, that just doesn't sit right with me.
The dude is a 90% free throw shooter. If nothing else, that places him above
What are the thoughts on throwing the hat into the Dejonte Murray ring? Atlanta may take Kevin and fillers to get out from that contract.
Im not too familiar with Brown, but seems he’s got defensive chops and can swing between SG and SF so should be a good addition.I was thinking more about the Grant/Thybulle package and one of the biggest drawbacks is the fact that they average a combined 7.0 rebounds per 36. Barnes & Huerter average a combined 9.2 rebounds per game.
With the 27 year old Bruce Brown now in Toronto (and potentially available), I’m wondering if a Grant/Brown package would be better. You still get the defense & toughness Thybulle brings but Brown is also an exceptional rebounder for his size and is a much better ball handler & passer/playmaker. His shooting is down this year but was at 36% and 40% the prior 2 seasons while playing around an excellent passing C.