Current Roster surrounding Ant

[Coolbreeze44]

But why can't we do both unless you are advocating for selling off everyone and tanking? And if you're not advocating for tanking, then I'm not sure how building around Ant now precludes us from eventually unearthing a Kawhi or Jokic. It's not like we stopped drafting and trying to develop young guys. The entire back half of our roster is filled with potential of varying degrees that we haven't seen much of because of how healthy the vets have been.

No, I'm not in favor of tanking. But in my view we are still building and that means BPA in all decisions, not looking for positional fits to suit Ant.

I don't necessarily disagree with that in terms of drafting, but it doesn't really change my recommendations of what to do with the current vets on the team as listed in my original post, none of whom have the potential of being a #1 type guy.

My bad for taking the leading point out of context, but that is what my thoughts were based on. As far as what to do about the existing vets, your summary is as good as any.

[60WinTim]

Cool -- don't you see Randle raising his hand?!?

[Coolbreeze44]

Cool -- don't you see Randle raising his hand?!?

Haha, yeah but no one in the entire basketball world wants to call on him!

[Lipoli390]

But why can't we do both unless you are advocating for selling off everyone and tanking? And if you're not advocating for tanking, then I'm not sure how building around Ant now precludes us from eventually unearthing a Kawhi or Jokic. It's not like we stopped drafting and trying to develop young guys. The entire back half of our roster is filled with potential of varying degrees that we haven't seen much of because of how healthy the vets have been.

No, I'm not in favor of tanking. But in my view we are still building and that means BPA in all decisions, not looking for positional fits to suit Ant.

I don't necessarily disagree with that in terms of drafting, but it doesn't really change my recommendations of what to do with the current vets on the team as listed in my original post, none of whom have the potential of being a #1 type guy.

I agree with Q. I’ll add that it’s too soon to conclude definitively that Ant can’t be the #1 player on a championship contender. The Wolves were a true contender last season and he was our best player. Even the best players are flawed. Ant’s flaws didn’t suddenly catch up with his this season. The difference is that the team around Ant isn’t as good and doesn’t fit him as well. We have Randle instead of KAT, we don’t have Slo Mo and we don’t have the same Mike Conley. In any event, as Q noted, we can build around Ant as our best player by far right now and still hunt for a better player to be out #1 alongside Ant. Meanwhile, I can still see Ant being our best player as a title contender. He can be our Jason Tatum, but we need to find him a Jaylen Brown.

[Coolbreeze44]

No, I'm not in favor of tanking. But in my view we are still building and that means BPA in all decisions, not looking for positional fits to suit Ant.

I don't necessarily disagree with that in terms of drafting, but it doesn't really change my recommendations of what to do with the current vets on the team as listed in my original post, none of whom have the potential of being a #1 type guy.

I agree with Q. I’ll add that it’s too soon to conclude definitively that Ant can’t be the #1 player on a championship contender. The Wolves were a true contender last season and he was our best player. Even the best players are flawed. Ant’s flaws didn’t suddenly catch up with his this season. The difference is that the team around Ant isn’t as good and doesn’t fit him as well. We have Randle instead of KAT, we don’t have Slo Mo and we don’t have the same Mike Conley. In any event, as Q noted, we can build around Ant as our best player by far right now and still hunt for a better player to be out #1 alongside Ant. Meanwhile, I can still see Ant being our best player as a title contender. He can be our Jason Tatum, but we need to find him a Jaylen Brown.

Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown don't run out of gas in the playoffs from burning the candle at both ends. Show me the maturity (highly unlikely to happen) and I'll agree he can be the #1 on a contender.

[kekgeek]

I don't necessarily disagree with that in terms of drafting, but it doesn't really change my recommendations of what to do with the current vets on the team as listed in my original post, none of whom have the potential of being a #1 type guy.

I agree with Q. I’ll add that it’s too soon to conclude definitively that Ant can’t be the #1 player on a championship contender. The Wolves were a true contender last season and he was our best player. Even the best players are flawed. Ant’s flaws didn’t suddenly catch up with his this season. The difference is that the team around Ant isn’t as good and doesn’t fit him as well. We have Randle instead of KAT, we don’t have Slo Mo and we don’t have the same Mike Conley. In any event, as Q noted, we can build around Ant as our best player by far right now and still hunt for a better player to be out #1 alongside Ant. Meanwhile, I can still see Ant being our best player as a title contender. He can be our Jason Tatum, but we need to find him a Jaylen Brown.

Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown don't run out of gas in the playoffs from burning the candle at both ends. Show me the maturity (highly unlikely to happen) and I'll agree he can be the #1 on a contender.

Anthony Edwards has averaged 24.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.8 assists in 5 games in Conference Finals on 43/41/75 splits

Jayson Tatum has averaged 24.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 31 games in Conference Finals on 46/30/87 splits

Jaylen Brown has averaged 20.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 36 games in Conference Finals on 48/35/71 splits

Pretty similar

[Phenom]

Q, I have a problem with the fundamental assertion that we need to focus on building around Ant. He's a really good player but I don't believe he can be #1 on a championship team. He would be a great #2, which means we still have to find THE guy. Sometimes THE guy can come out of nowhere like Jokic or Kawhi Leonard. We need to keep looking at all possibilities and not settle for trying win with a flawed player.

If you don't believe in Ant, does that mean he could come out of nowhere then?

[60WinTim]

Q, I have a problem with the fundamental assertion that we need to focus on building around Ant. He's a really good player but I don't believe he can be #1 on a championship team. He would be a great #2, which means we still have to find THE guy. Sometimes THE guy can come out of nowhere like Jokic or Kawhi Leonard. We need to keep looking at all possibilities and not settle for trying win with a flawed player.

If you don't believe in Ant, does that mean he could come out of nowhere then?

I still think everyone is dismissing Randle way too easily as ANT's partner in crime. His embracing a playmaking role is impressing me. He helps replace SloMo's playmaking, and also adds an outside shot. He can get you a tough inside basket ala KAT, without the stray voltage and excess offensive fouls. I have seen signs of defensive improvement, and if being on a defensive minded team can help that improvement blossom, he will be the PF we have been looking for.

[FNG]

Q, I have a problem with the fundamental assertion that we need to focus on building around Ant. He's a really good player but I don't believe he can be #1 on a championship team. He would be a great #2, which means we still have to find THE guy. Sometimes THE guy can come out of nowhere like Jokic or Kawhi Leonard. We need to keep looking at all possibilities and not settle for trying win with a flawed player.

If you don't believe in Ant, does that mean he could come out of nowhere then?

I still think everyone is dismissing Randle way too easily as ANT's partner in crime. His embracing a playmaking role is impressing me. He helps replace SloMo's playmaking, and also adds an outside shot. He can get you a tough inside basket ala KAT, without the stray voltage and excess offensive fouls. I have seen signs of defensive improvement, and if being on a defensive minded team can help that improvement blossom, he will be the PF we have been looking for.

That's kind of the theme of my (too many) posts this morning...four consecutive triple double watch games has me hopefully thinking Ju might be finally figuring out how to play with these new guys. He could be the answer at PF, but more importantly, he needs to be out there for every minute Ant is not. That still leaves 24 minutes or so that he and Ant need to show they can be effective, but in all fairness, that pairing has a positive 2.6 net rating this year...and seems to be improving. With Naz only hitting 30% of his threes this month, I'm off the "start Naz at PF" train...let's make this lineup work, but also give Ju some minutes with 4 bench players who love to run the court.

[Q-is-here]

Ant and Randle had one give and go play where Ant threw it to Randle in the mid-post area on the left side, with everyone else cleared out to the other side, then Ant made a cut to the basket and Randle found him for an easy layup. This simply does not happen enough. It's one of the very rare times where I've seen synergy between Ant and Randle where Ant is the beneficiary. More of that please!

I think the spacing issue isn't just one player's fault. It's the fact that we start a frontcourt trio that isn't respected for their outside shots: Rudy, Randle, and Jaden. Obviously Randle and Jaden can hit 3s from time to time, but defenses seem generally OK with it and therefore continue to crowd the paint.

We can't field a contending-level offense with those three on the floor together. Now add a diminished Mike Conley to the mix and there is almost nothing a coach can do to make that offense hum.