A few thoughts here:
* THJr's departure means more ball and more shots for everyone... and an opportunity for more system. That's probably good. At the same time...
* DSJr seems to have a bit of Steve Francis/Allen Iverson to his game at this stage of his career - overwhelm opponents with sheer athleticism and explosion. He'd be a good student for Fizdale in the short term to expand his game. For what it's worth, I think we've upgraded our PG situation in the event that the free agent market (KYRIE) is not kind to us. IMHO for all the strides Mudiay has made this year, I think DSJr is already more advanced with higher upside(not sure what that says about Mudiay's game) at a younger age with less pro experience. All that means is he's likely our starting PG - unless he wins us too many games.
* Kornet is a bit of a poor man's KP or perhaps more accurately, a more traditional big man version of KP. He does a lot of the same things that KP does well, just with less athleticism. He has good hands, can dunk, finish, shoot from the perimeter, block shots. But he doesn't put the ball on the floor too much on the perimeter and play the SF game - the thing that makes KP unique but also an injury risk. I think he can evolve into a solid 15-20mpg center in the NBA. I would note that a few years back, KP looked like a far superior prospect vs those other Euro centers drafted around the same time (Jokic and Nurkic). Jokic (in spite of his soft body) has turned into a superstar (31.4mpg: 20.4ppg, 10.4rpg, 7.7apg, 51%FG, 27.7 PER) and Nurkic is putting together legit big man numbers (27.4mpg: 15.2ppg, 10.4rpg, 3.2apg, 1.6bpg, 50%FG, 23.3 PER).
* About KP: Well here were the big flags on KP:
1) He misses a LOT of games. Scouts were worried about his thin frame holding up. Well, they were right. He has missed a LOT of games as a pro. If Cuban's comments are right and he doesn't play at all this year, in 4 seasons he'll have played in 186 games and will have missed 152. And we of course don't really know if he'll be the same player after this ACL injury. We've seen an established all-star player like Hayward struggling to regain his form a year and a half after his horrific ankle injury.
2) He hasn't established himself as a passer. Like at all. To this point, he's among the worst black holes in the game. Of his modern young big man peers, he's among the worst. Here's how he compares er 36 minutes to some notable black holes: KP 1.5; Eddy Curry: 0.8; Deandre Jordan: 1.0; Tyson Chandler: 1.1; Chris Gatling: 1.2; Amare Stoudemire: 1.4; Dwight Howard: 1.5; Zach Randolph: 2.1. Dirk Nowitzki comes in a touch higher at 2.4. Carmelo: 3.0.
Typically the worst ones on this list are centers who only touch the ball on layups/dunks/putbacks. But KP fancies himself as a SF and handles the ball a lot. He needs to grow as a playmaker. A lot. Like 50% growth to get to Dirk level.
3) The last 2 times we had this much cap flexibility: when we signed Childs, Houston, and traded for LJ... and when we picked up Amare. I think we have some really nice young role players. If we can get Kyrie and KD... and a few veteran fillers on this roster, we'd be instant contenders. Some ifs. I'd just be wary of the Knicks caving in and getting 2nd rate free agents. I don't want to see us handing Harris or Middleton a max deal just cuz. I'm already twitchy thinking about whether Kemba Walker and D'Angelo Russell might be deserving. The key pickup would be KD. He's the game changer.