Q12543 wrote:Yeah, pretty pathetic the lengths Rosas & Co. are willing to go to tank this season. As someone else said, we'll see how this translates into next season. My only hope is that may be Rosas pulls off some trades that bring in some winners to this team - guys who won't put up with lazy defense and carefree mentalities. Malik Beasley may be one of the answers here, at least from a lockerroom perspective (??). They could use a tough 3 & D SF too. Also keeping an eye on Vanderbilt as our future PF.
I definitely think Beasley is one of the answers. He brings 3-point shooting as well as some toughness and moxie. It's more than the locker room with Malik. He shows toughness and moxie on the court as well. He's not a great penetrator, but he's not bad either. I also agree that we could really use a 3 & D SF in our starting lineup - preferably someone with length. I feel very good about moving forward with Okogie as our 6th man in the rotation. We need his defense and he's really become reliable on the offensive end, making good decisions, drawing fouls and hitting his foul shots, scoring pretty efficiently and generally staying within himself. Of course his energy is great and infectious. And let's not forget that he's still barely 21 years old. Beasley and these other guys are 23+.
Like you, I'm intrigued by Vanderbilt. If we're going to tank, then he should get lots of minutes. Again, I'm at a point where I want to see this team win with its new players. But I can live with tanking if it's for a strategic purpose other than simply maximizing lottery balls. For me, that other purpose is developing and evaluating young guys with high upside who could help this team long term. I like the idea of continuing to give significant minutes to J-Mac and H-Gomez,, but I think we have a pretty good idea of what we have in those two. The young guys I want to see get consistent, significant minutes the rest of the season are Nowell, Martin and Vanderbilt. You can't put up better G-League numbers than Nowell has this season. It's time to give him an extended run up here, allowing him to struggle and adapt along the way. I still like Martin's potential and Vanderbilt has huge upside. I'm a bit intrigued by Spellman, but I think there are issues there that already have him out the door this summer. Otherwise, I'd like to see him get some minutes as well. And please, no more minutes for Crabbe!!