TripleThreat wrote:RonRon wrote:People do not realize he was a lot more prepared than they might had believed him to be
Could only hope we will be able to steal some of the players in GS and Atlanta that would be able to teach our guys how to play a bit
IMHO, the biggest thing I see on this board that gets overlooked is the "continuity" issue.
If Langston Galloway, THJr and Early played together for 3 years straight, I think you'd seem them play much better together as a unit. I'm not saying they'd give you the current production of a contender's roster, but given a chance to gel, they'd have the best chance to hit whatever ceiling they carry together as young players.
The Warriors and Hawks aren't just where they are because of talent and coaching, but also because those players have gelled together over time. You play with a guy for 3-4 years, you get to know his tendencies, his strengths, his weaknesses, how he likes to operate, where he excels on the floor. And you get teams like the Spurs, where the core has been playing together for over a decade. It's much easier to integrate new players to an existing core than to just grab a bunch of mercenaries and hope they fit together.
IMHO, the plans of a lot of posters here is just that. Get a Greg Monroe, fit be damned. Get a Reggie Jackson, fit be damned. Spend here. Trade future picks there. Burn out assets in this place and that place. Then just hope it works like some kind of bizarre gumbo. A Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green get to break through because they've been operating in a stable consistent environment over time.
To get this continuity, against the reality of the salary structure and guaranteed contracts and few mechanisms for roster change in place, the Knicks must BUILD THROUGH THE DRAFT. This is something a lot of folks here don't want to hear, but you build a team in the modern NBA incrementally. No one wants to wait 5-6-7 years, but the growing pains of players and their development tends to work better in stages. Player A gets drafted. He suffers some growing pains, but in Year 2, he makes some leaps. You hope that by then, your drafted Player B, the next year, deals with his own growing pains, but is eased along with that young 2nd year guy. Along with a mix of veterans and strong role players, you get that young player in a position to learn and be mentored into how to play the game the right way.
The Briggs-ian "Let's Overload Just One Year And Accumulate A Bunch Of Guys Who Won't Fail Because I Said So" routine just doesn't tend to work. It's low odds, it's not about development, it's about throwing a bunch of guys together and see what sticks and hope it works out. Mercenaries have their place, but not for a team trying to build from the ground up and rebuild.
If GS and ATL show anything, it's that there are no quick fixes. The seeds of what those teams are now were planted and developed over 5-6 years ago.
Yeah continuity is critical but I still stand by the fact
You trade a future pick with Calderon, you saw what happened last night right
What Phil should have done is obviously besides not re-signing Meload
- Sign a waived Will Bynum like Cleveland is looking to do right now[commented on this when he was waived this summer]
- Traded Shump last yr and got OKC's 1st round pick[2015] or
- Traded Shump, Felton, and Hardaway for Lowry
- Traded Tyson last yr and got a 2015 1st or 2016 1st and an asset
- Traded Pablo last yr for a 2nd round pick[2016-2018]
- Held on to the 2nd round 2015 pick[top 37 protected]
- Trade Jeremy Tyler and J.R.[as a starter] maybe a distant future 2nd like 2019
After they build up some trade value or
- Whoever has the lowest between Felton and Smith with a future 2018 1st[heck probably for Waiters]
All of this would have been better return value than what we have now
Players like Lance, Amundson, Ellington, Acy, Wolters, would have always
Been there to pick up via waiver from trades that transpired elsewhere
Most things would have been preserved and we'd have equal and-or better
Cap space than we have now and possibly a playoff team with Lowry here