franco12 wrote:the thing that strikes me about this thread is its stuff I've heard before about our roster in years prior - we're deep, etc. our bench is this good, etc. I could probably dig up a thread.The thing that concerns me about our roster is we may have depth, but we're lacking quality. Sure, we have 10 really good players with potential and talent, but many of them are 6, 7 & 8 on other teams, and we're counting on them to be 2, 3, 4 & 5's on ours. And that's a recipe for 30 wins.
Now, I do think this group is different- there is probably more upside in guys like O'Quinn, Seraphin & Williams and we have character, and I think character helps win games.
I'd just suggest tempering expectations until the season starts - otherwise we sound like Nixluva! 
1st of all this is the exact time to try and guess what you really think the team is capable of. Otherwise you're just saying what you see after the fact, which a monkey could do. There's no fun in that at all.
I think you are wrong in your assessment of the talent on this team relative to most of the other teams in the East. I did a thread comparing our roster with most of the other rosters and there isn't much separation at all. I'd love for you to make the case that we are really deficient in comparison cuz based on what I saw it didn't look like it.
Melo is clearly the equal of many of the star players on other teams with the exception of an elite few.
RoLo is a representative starting Center in this league. Started for 2 50 win teams in the West so how is he not on the level of other teams Centers?
Afflalo is hurt but when he was playing he was a decent starting SG. People may not like him but he wasn't some scrub off someone's bench. Right now Sasha should be able to hold the fort.
KP is a rookie top 4 pick and if he starts that's not unusual for a team to play their top pick. Kid has talent on both ends. He's got a long way to go but so did Jabari Parker or Nerlens etc.
Jose is below standard but the hope is that we can develop Jerian to eventually take over. For now we just have to make due. Most teams have some area of weakness unless you're talking about a top team.
The Bench has some nice talent. Guys who are young and haven't made a name yet, but they have good skills and they hustle.
The key for this team is going to be their effort on D and defensive chemistry. They still have work to do, but if they can play decent defense they will score enough points to be competitive on most nights. We have a better bench than many teams in the East IMO. Mainly because we don't have any scrubs. Pretty much every player has a decent talent level.