Obviously Im high on this draft, and Grant + KP changes the level of the quality in our "pipeline" but with Galloway proving he can play rotation minutes in the NBA with upside still and the other guys this is a really nice group of young player to put around Melo and Im assuming some quality vets. Maybe they get lucky and entice a Deandre Jordan and then really role the dice and go big, maybe its stop gap locker room guys like David West who will give you 1.5 years of really good play before decline and handing their minutes happily over to KP, etc while starting a foundation that can lead to a title as Lebron is fading... etc (Ive been drinking)

Anyway at least for me this draft shows me something about what this organization's plans are and the type of foundation they are trying to build.

P.S DJ: Raptors suck donkey sausage

fishmike wrote:

StarksEwing1 wrote:I agree. Truthfully i would mind trading melo for even more assets and cap room

Here's the thing... tanking doesn't gain us anything. We don't have a pick next year. The best thing we can do is improve from within. That means getting young players better. That also means making vets happy and productive. Guys like playing with Melo because he carries the scoring load. He works hard on offense. Some see that is him getting his, but man when you play and your busting your but especially on defense its really nice to have some possessions where you throw it down to a guy, and just suck some air while he pounds some dude into submission for an easy turn around 10 footer, so maybe you now you have to crash the offensive glass... but that's a high reward proposition. Guys that play see this.. its part of why Melo is respected around the league as teammate. As a leader? No... but listen to Billups. He loved having MElo on his squads.

So winning means something. KP playing 20 minutes and Grant playing 25 minutes a night of winning (.500+) hoops is more valuable than anything else. Learn to grind out wins, to close, to defend... that's the culture Phil preaches about. That's what paying David West will bring. A title? No.. but this young group of players will see the value of grinding play in and play out and how many wins or chances for wins late in games that yields... its everything.

Melo plays hard. Not always the way "fans" want him to but he does... we can put him in a position to do what he does best and do the same for other players as well. Guys like David West and Danny Green accomplish those things... even if they aren't sexy signings. They get us closer to the ultimate goal