My answer:

KP was complicated and I don't understand why he did not buy into what was evolving. But......

1. with him gone we have the most cap space in the history of modern NBA, enough to sign two dudes. If stars like to conspire like they did in Miami, we can do this. (Wade was already there)

2. while we can argue the validity of this, we have Smith, Robinson, Frank and Knox. All very good blue chip young pedigree talent and are 20 years old and under. Add Zion-Reddish-Morant-Barrett as likely additions.

3. With that pick we own all our own and now two picks from Dallas which is 7 no. 1 picks in the next 5 years.

4. We have two respectable role players in Dotson and Trier at reasonable deals. Vonleh and Mudiay have limited value but have demonstrated they are valid NBA role players. Knicks are awful and thus how they assimilate on a good team is discretionary. Kornet has some value too.

If we strike out on any free agent we can field a starting five under the age of 21 and prolong "Development". I don't think that is a great idea and its not been done effectively to my knowledge. There can be short term middle deals for "good" players but not mess with the cap space long term. This would be the least favorite. But those assets above make for some sweet trading fodder.
If we do get two max players, we still are not chip ready as two stars and a bunch of kids cannot get it done. But if done right trades can be made and we can still maintain a pipeline of youth all while drafting without immediate need. This is what the spurs did. Guys like Manu and Parker were excellent picks. Parker was thrived in a system at age 19 (it was not a smooth start, remember he got bumped for George HIll, who got traded for the 13 th pick that became Kawhi).....and Manu was 25 when he came from Europe.

The future is unclear but the last few yeas of pain has not solved much, but it has bought us to the window of opportunity. We will be able to pull up to the trade window in the next few years. We can control our cap, and we are developing.

"Historical cap space, 7 no. 1 picks in 5 years and 4 valid blue chippers 20 or younger and decent bench with Trier and Vonleh is a base to build on."

And for now we kept Frank!!!

I 100/1,000/1,000,000% agree that if we strike out on elite FA's we need to just sit tight and go into another developmental year. The absolute worst case scenario from this is we don't get KD or AD + Kyrie or Kemba and give out max's to a combo out of guys like Butler or Harris or Boogie or make other commitments to 2nd tier players. That'll just cement us as a 1st/2nd round playoff team at best for the next 4-5 years. It's what I fear most about this whole situation. Even the short term middle deals you're talking about, I would only give out 1 year deals at that point.

I totally disagree though that we have all this "blue chip" young talent. I see maybe Knox with a lot of development and that's about it. The other guys, while they could end up being nice bench/role players, are honestly a dime a dozen in this league if you watch the rest of the NBA. Robinson at sporadic times can be impactful but I'm not sure his ceiling is going to be more than a 20 min center.

And that's also what scares me going back to square 1, is that if we strike out on the elite, I don't know that they're going to have the patience to do the right thing which would be to pack it back in. Especially because they're going to face some pretty big backlash over it after the KP trade. I didn't like the KP trade in terms of value but I can separate the two issues when it comes to the offseason. I don't want to ruin the next 4-5 years to try to make up for a poor value trade we made this year.

It's gotta be all or nothing, that's just where we are. Any middle ground is a disaster.

Nalod wrote:

homeskillitprigioni wrote:Agree and disagree with some of that stuff.

I 100/1,000/1,000,000% agree that if we strike out on elite FA's we need to just sit tight and go into another developmental year. The absolute worst case scenario from this is we don't get KD or AD + Kyrie or Kemba and give out max's to a combo out of guys like Butler or Harris or Boogie or make other commitments to 2nd tier players. That'll just cement us as a 1st/2nd round playoff team at best for the next 4-5 years. It's what I fear most about this whole situation. Even the short term middle deals you're talking about, I would only give out 1 year deals at that point.

I totally disagree though that we have all this "blue chip" young talent. I see maybe Knox with a lot of development and that's about it. The other guys, while they could end up being nice bench/role players, are honestly a dime a dozen in this league if you watch the rest of the NBA. Robinson at sporadic times can be impactful but I'm not sure his ceiling is going to be more than a 20 min center.

And that's also what scares me going back to square 1, is that if we strike out on the elite, I don't know that they're going to have the patience to do the right thing which would be to pack it back in. Especially because they're going to face some pretty big backlash over it after the KP trade. I didn't like the KP trade in terms of value but I can separate the two issues when it comes to the offseason. I don't want to ruin the next 4-5 years to try to make up for a poor value trade we made this year.

It's gotta be all or nothing, that's just where we are. Any middle ground is a disaster.

You bring up good points and fear is one of them. I did say:

while we can argue the validity of this, we have Smith, Robinson, Frank and Knox. All very good blue chip young pedigree talent and are 20 years old and under. Add Zion-Reddish-Morant-Barrett as likely additions.

My take is they are way too young to label and assign a ceiling to. They all show flashes and true to form yoots are inconsistent. Especially KP. Lets not fool ourselves, KP was not bonafide franchise talent due to injury and fatigue. We have pages of forums on all thse topics.

What we have is also a window. Say we get Zion or Barret.
Say one of Smith-Knox-robinson become special. Say Giannis says "Phuch Cheese curds and skank beer", trade me!!! WE can pull up a seat and make a deal.

Drafting alone won't do it. Trading needs assets. Cap space. have all three.

ANd I'll take making the playoffs with upside! All or nothing is a starphuch. Durant and Kyrie won't get it done alone. Trades will need to happen. All the while I don't want a three year run then another 40 years of waste. I'd rather a sustainable process. Maybe its not Durant, but Kawhi and Kyrie. Or Something with Boogie and Kawhi.
not known is the chemistry of what comes after that. Its not two stars and kids. That would be a work in progress. But its progress, and other deals to follow.

Before we know anything there will be a draft! Fist things first, there is a window.

Yeah, young players are going to be inconsistent, but when you compare these guys to their peers they aren't blue chippers relative to the rest of the league. I do think Knox is the one guy who has the potential to be but what concerns me about him is the prognosticators seemed to be right about his motor which for a young guy I don't think should be fluctuating as much as his does. He's also probably the only one with actual trade value if you're talking about them being assets for that. The Mavs just shopped DSJ for weeks to anyone who would pick up the phone and there wasn't much happening.

When I said all or nothing I meant that as far as the max guys. I don't want to do it just because we can if we miss out on the top guys. Misusing the space for max's can derail your franchise for so many years. I don't want to do that just to have a path to become mediocre. If we miss out on the elite, I'm all for retaining the space and flexibility to keep building and use that space when the right player(s) come along. The goal needs to be to build a perennial championship contender.