Great thread. 100% agree on Green, Miller and a slew of other talented D-Leaguers. Something about acquiring and auditioning young 1st round equivalent-level talent (agree with you here too, Crush) for the here and now and possibly past this year, without trading any money or assets--I dunno man, call me crazy but something about that I find appealing. How could you not, given our gloomy situation?? Much more realistic that talking about acquiring an additional 5 1st round picks in this draft. Someone explain to me how the hell we're doing that?? I'd rather forgo the pie in the sky stuff and stick to reality. Adding some premiere DL talent is realistic and 100% possible...We've gotta be stupid not to look at the DL right now. Go from the top down -- target the best of the best in the DL, not just Westchester players, who outside of Thanasis (who's really a guy for next year) and maybe Galloway, aren't NBA worthy...I really like the look of this kid Bryce Cotton for example -- I know Langston Galloway's a little taller and longer but this kid Cotton's clearly the better overall talent. What's more valuable -- a PG 2" bigger or one who's more talented? I think Cotton's better than Shane Larkin too who just hasn't panned out at all so far. Very possible this kid Cotton could be something close to Isaiah Thomas/Patty Mills in the NBA. Plus he's got a 40 inch vertical to boot btw. If we're looking for an instant PG upgrade, a guy with an exciting game and some real promise, Cotton would be my guy over Galloway. Nothing against Galloway--I know he's our own Westchester guy and you would think that we should give our own guys first crack but not if they're not good enough and there are better guys available. Common sense...Next, gotta find a way to get Elliot Williams in here as well. He now looks healthy & is showing the athleticism he had coming out of Memphis a few years ago plus a real diverse/versatile game -- scoring, handling, passing, defense, etc.. All the qualities that made him a 1st round pick are only full display every night the Santa Clara Warriors take the floor. Compare Elliot Williams to a fairly one dimensional 2G around the same size, a guy like Jodie Meeks for example. Meeks is a nice shooter and role player but to me, Williams is a vastly superior overall talent. Not even close...JaMychal Green reminds me a lot of David West--I even see a poor man's Antonio McDyess to a degree-- much better player than any big man we have in Westchester and better than either Acy or Travis Wear for that matter (I'd even argue better than STAT and Jason Smith). Wear, incidentally, isn't an NBA player. I think that's become clear by now... Funny, Acy's another guy who really hasn't panned out the way I thought he would've for whatever reason -- you figure guys like Larkin and Acy would be playing a lot more aggressive, adopting a real 'take the bull by the horns' attitude since day 1 this year trying to make a name for themselves on a real crappy team, and they just flat out haven't. It's really inexplicable. Even Cleanthony Early was playing passive in the early going before he went down. Early I'm willing to stick with, but these other guys man -- outta here, Jack! Why stick with them at this point? What are we getting for them? Nothing! Why would a playoff team want any of our guys? They can't make it happen here on a crappy team--what are they doing for a playoff team in meaningful games the rest of the way?? More than half our team serves us better just getting cut imo---at least we could immediately open up a few spots and import/audition some promising young talent. It's our best and only play right now as far as I can see. Everything else revolves around protecting Melo, tanking for the best possible lottery position (as embarrassing as it is the say it's 100% necessary) and being patient...Let's try to make some things happen here in the meantime. Green, Cotton, Elliot Williams -- I'd love to see all 3 of those guys in the orange and blue sometime soon. Start there. If we don't call these guys up someone else will, I assure you.
Regarding Covington, I was calling for this guy a few different times -- early on when Houston still had him (I was willing to trade Early and/or THJ to get Covington/Canaan), when they were on the verge of dumping him yet still listening to offers and then when they did finally cut him. Philly saw the talent and pounced, offering an extremely team-friendly deal which he accepted (4-yrs, a little over $4mm). For a player with his talent level--that's a steal. Great move by Philly. I wouldn't mind seeing us go the same route with a few different guys.
