Ok...I get the premise. But I don't understand what is meant by now. To me win now is the Celtics, Mavs, Lakers, Spurs, and by their own design, the Heat. These are teams that need to win within the next 2 years. These are teams with NO youth in the pipeline and aging stars(minus the Heat). That is win now.
We have younger cores then every team minus the Heat-who everyone says is set for 7 years. I just want to take a closer look at this win now theory.
The Lakers, Dallas, Boston, and San Antonio have stars on the wrong side of 30. There is no transcendent young player on any of those teams. Bynum on LA is always hurt(and isn't dominant when healthy, hell he is the 4th option behind Kobe, Pau, and Odom) and Rondo in Boston is a PG who can not shoot and hasn't made anyone better (I stand by my argument the three legends have made HIM better). Dallas and SA are riding the tails of Dirk (apparently they are pinning their future on Roddy Buckets) and Duncan (noone in the pipeline). That is my definition of win now.
Miami is set on paper. They sold depth and balance for 3 of the top 25 in the league and they all took discounts. Here is my problem with Miami. They signed Crash..er...Flash Wade and his puppies to 7 year deals. Bron and Bosh should be ok but Wade was constantly injured at 26, has a reckless style, and is dependent on quickness and athleticism. I really want to see how he holds up just 2-3 years down the line. Miami also has $45 mil invested in 3 players of 7 years! They are dependent on ring chasers taking discounts. They have $12 mil at best to fill out 13 roster spots. They also have Haslem who I have a man crush on- but he never makes it a full season.
My main problem with the Heat is they have zero room for improvement. Bosh, LBJ, Wade, and Haslem are what they are. They are not getting better. Their bench of veterans is what they are. Chalmers is what he is. Miami will be at the same level for most of the decade. I think THIS is what defines a win now team.
Onto our guys. With Amare, whose knees will always be a concern, he has already improved from last year. While his game in PHX was based on athleticism and speed we see him even now changing his game. He will flash what he can do sometimes but he is now incorporating less physically taxing aspects of his game-mid range J, passing-and only playing above the rim when he has to. IF his knees hold up he can be a modern day LJ whose game evolved and was effective part his prime.
Melo. Well Melo is only 26. 26. Yeah, 26. We gave away most-yes most not all most- of our youth for him. Good players with high ceilings. What I like about Melo is his game is below the rim and not based on athleticism. And he is signed until he is 30. Melo has a game that can be effective into his 30's, imo.
I think where we differ from Miami is we have potential to grow. I think that Douglas learning from Billups is a major plus. I think Landry can be what Mike Miller started to be in Memphis. Shawne Williams, as someone said before, is a Derrick McKey clone-or at least has the potential to be.
I see us as not only a win now team but we are positioned to be a young up and coming team that can beat Miami, just with a different blueprint, for at least as long as they are a top team if not longer.
