In fact, as I’ve said about eleventy-kazillion times, a core of Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, Gradey Dick, one of Gary Trent or Bruce Brown and, perhaps, Ochai Agbaji isn’t shabby.
In fact, as I’ve said about eleventy-kazillion times, a core of Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes, Jakob Poeltl, Gradey Dick, one of Gary Trent or Bruce Brown and, perhaps, Ochai Agbaji isn’t shabby.
That’s a core that won’t win games once the starters are tired and need to sit down. You can’t get a big enough lead with this core to facilitate the amount of money needed to keep it together.
Especially Bruce fucking Brown
Redditsavage77
That’s a core that isn’t shabby but isn’t competitive either. It’s a murky middle team who will challenge for a play in spot. Not exactly the spot you want to be in
AssyrianRhapsody
If by “not shabby” he means capable of winning 30 games then I agree
Still_Couple6208
People forget that for the little bit that those guys were all playing together, things were going well. Then Jak was hurt, Scottie was hurt, RJ and IQ took personal leave. Ochai was out after that crazy fall. That group looked legit competitive in that small sample size and was neck and neck with the Hawks for the last play-in spot.
I feel like the fan base is too obsessed with this tank narrative from last season to understand that there were actually circumstances that led to the tough end to the season.
peroper7
In terms of actual talent they aren’t bad as a group, RJ is gonna be criminally underrated for the rest of his career because of the knicks stint. He’s a completely different player now.
Scottie is gonna be a really high-impact player on the whole court whether he’s a “superstar” or not, IQ is one of the best shooters in the league at the minimum.
We’ve had a relatively talented ‘core’ for the last couple years, but they were always less than the sum of their parts. I think there’s an opportunity for it to really work with these guys given time, this group actually has complimentary skillsets.
Bixby33
I feel like when the sub reacts to quotes like this they are imagining that we’re riding with these guys for the next seven years with no changes.
Some guys will improve, some will regress and others will just stagnate.
But moves will be made.
What the takeaway is here is that we have a decent starting point, but the ability to add more talent in the margins and make swing trades when required.
Baulderdash77
The core of presumptive starters: Quickly, Dick, Barrett, Barnes, Poeltl with a bench of Trent, Brown, Olynyk is missing a backup forward and a backup PG. If we draft one of those positions and sign the other from free agency; I expect we will win 40 games.
iamwearingashirt
It’s a core that, if healthy, has around a .500 win record or a bit under.
There’s also strong potential for growth with 3 or 4 of those players.
Scottie has star potential.
They have all their picks plus a Pacers one.
The cap looks decently balanced.
They’re in a decent retooling spot.
lsdc86
As long as they all progress this year. That’s a decent core.
bridge_tosomewhere
Forgot Kelly. The team has 40 win potential if they bring everyone back and can stay healthy. But do they want to win this year? Darko’s comments hint at another tank season.
OwlWitty
We need a 3 and D big to compleat that.
RandomFighter50
The way this team is going I feel like it’s going to mold into a pre-Kawhi trade build-up. We’re going to be good and find our identity but we’re going to need another trade for a superstar to really get over the hump and maybe win it all. A little more patience, my friends. We have a good core and we’re developing our young guys. We’ll get back into contention soon.
DirtyDanoTho
Here are my problems. Most bigs provide more value than Poeltl. You have to upgrade to at least someone who can hit free throws. Gary Trent and Bruce Brown are net neutral players and extremely frustrating to watch. Can we rely on Gradey as a high level starter or will he be better off the bench? Ochai is completely unproven. How much depth do we actually have? I fear it’s another season of the bench blowing small leads created by the starters.
Now next season I hope to be disproven but barring injuries I see this team as a 8-10 seed which isn’t good enough or bad enough.
13 Comments
Sports journalism from a newspaper. Not shocked.
That’s a core that won’t win games once the starters are tired and need to sit down. You can’t get a big enough lead with this core to facilitate the amount of money needed to keep it together.
Especially Bruce fucking Brown
That’s a core that isn’t shabby but isn’t competitive either. It’s a murky middle team who will challenge for a play in spot. Not exactly the spot you want to be in
If by “not shabby” he means capable of winning 30 games then I agree
People forget that for the little bit that those guys were all playing together, things were going well. Then Jak was hurt, Scottie was hurt, RJ and IQ took personal leave. Ochai was out after that crazy fall. That group looked legit competitive in that small sample size and was neck and neck with the Hawks for the last play-in spot.
I feel like the fan base is too obsessed with this tank narrative from last season to understand that there were actually circumstances that led to the tough end to the season.
In terms of actual talent they aren’t bad as a group, RJ is gonna be criminally underrated for the rest of his career because of the knicks stint. He’s a completely different player now.
Scottie is gonna be a really high-impact player on the whole court whether he’s a “superstar” or not, IQ is one of the best shooters in the league at the minimum.
We’ve had a relatively talented ‘core’ for the last couple years, but they were always less than the sum of their parts. I think there’s an opportunity for it to really work with these guys given time, this group actually has complimentary skillsets.
I feel like when the sub reacts to quotes like this they are imagining that we’re riding with these guys for the next seven years with no changes.
Some guys will improve, some will regress and others will just stagnate.
But moves will be made.
What the takeaway is here is that we have a decent starting point, but the ability to add more talent in the margins and make swing trades when required.
The core of presumptive starters: Quickly, Dick, Barrett, Barnes, Poeltl with a bench of Trent, Brown, Olynyk is missing a backup forward and a backup PG. If we draft one of those positions and sign the other from free agency; I expect we will win 40 games.
It’s a core that, if healthy, has around a .500 win record or a bit under.
There’s also strong potential for growth with 3 or 4 of those players.
Scottie has star potential.
They have all their picks plus a Pacers one.
The cap looks decently balanced.
They’re in a decent retooling spot.
As long as they all progress this year. That’s a decent core.
Forgot Kelly. The team has 40 win potential if they bring everyone back and can stay healthy. But do they want to win this year? Darko’s comments hint at another tank season.
We need a 3 and D big to compleat that.
The way this team is going I feel like it’s going to mold into a pre-Kawhi trade build-up. We’re going to be good and find our identity but we’re going to need another trade for a superstar to really get over the hump and maybe win it all. A little more patience, my friends. We have a good core and we’re developing our young guys. We’ll get back into contention soon.
Here are my problems. Most bigs provide more value than Poeltl. You have to upgrade to at least someone who can hit free throws. Gary Trent and Bruce Brown are net neutral players and extremely frustrating to watch. Can we rely on Gradey as a high level starter or will he be better off the bench? Ochai is completely unproven. How much depth do we actually have? I fear it’s another season of the bench blowing small leads created by the starters.
Now next season I hope to be disproven but barring injuries I see this team as a 8-10 seed which isn’t good enough or bad enough.