Exit Interviews - GDT

[FNG]

I’m not defending Randle here and I don’t want to extend him (fine with him opting in). I think it is personally dumb to make decisions on if a player can succeed against a specific team. Like the NBA chances so fast now, teams loaded up to stop the nuggets and now they are not a top tier contender, the Celtics were on pace to be a dynasty and now have one of the weirder situations in the NBA. The Thunder are looking like a monster incoming however next offseason their top 3 could make 165 million for just those 3. Also if the nuggets beat OKC in game 7 the wolves are probably the finals favorite.

Just personally I think it’s dumb to make huge decisions based on one potential matchup that might never happen. Thunder are a terrible matchup for Randle however I think he is a great matchup for the majority of the NBA.

This is not me defending Randle but I just think it’s a narrow way to think about things only fixating on one significant matchup

Kek, I couldn't agree more...yes, the NBA changes so rapidly from year to year, making personnel decisions designed to beat one team not a good strategy. Every decision TC makes has to consider only three things: 1) does it work financially for management, 2) does it keep us competitive short term, and 3) does it set us up for success long-term. It's difficult enough to balance these three factors without adding another element in there of trying to beat one specific team. Plus, I've watched the NBA long enough to feel pretty confident OkC will not be as dominant next year as this. They are going to win a championship this year, and a lot of their success will be because they were hungry and "brought it" every night (um, except in game 3 of the conference finals). They are still going to be very good next year, but I will be quite surprised if they play with as much passion as this year after winning a championship.

[60WinTim]

Something else that Finch allowed to box himself into a corner was this idea we have 8 starters. He was obviously compelled to give his 8 starters as many minutes as he could. That will be different next year: NAW will be gone, Mike riding off into the sunset, and I believe the Wolves will be forced to hitch their wagon to either Randle OR NAZ.

That should lead to a solid 9-man, if not 10-man rotation. Dilly, Clark and Shannon should all be part of the regular rotation. That is quite a change from last year, without adding any new faces.

Cool, I know you don’t want Randle back, but I prefer Randle over NAZ. I hope NAZ leaves for greener pastures and we acquire a better rebounder via the draft and/or free agency.

[Q-is-here]

I’m not defending Randle here and I don’t want to extend him (fine with him opting in). I think it is personally dumb to make decisions on if a player can succeed against a specific team. Like the NBA chances so fast now, teams loaded up to stop the nuggets and now they are not a top tier contender, the Celtics were on pace to be a dynasty and now have one of the weirder situations in the NBA. The Thunder are looking like a monster incoming however next offseason their top 3 could make 165 million for just those 3. Also if the nuggets beat OKC in game 7 the wolves are probably the finals favorite.

Just personally I think it’s dumb to make huge decisions based on one potential matchup that might never happen. Thunder are a terrible matchup for Randle however I think he is a great matchup for the majority of the NBA.

This is not me defending Randle but I just think it’s a narrow way to think about things only fixating on one significant matchup

Kek, I couldn't agree more...yes, the NBA changes so rapidly from year to year, making personnel decisions designed to beat one team not a good strategy. Every decision TC makes has to consider only three things: 1) does it work financially for management, 2) does it keep us competitive short term, and 3) does it set us up for success long-term. It's difficult enough to balance these three factors without adding another element in there of trying to beat one specific team. Plus, I've watched the NBA long enough to feel pretty confident OkC will not be as dominant next year as this. They are going to win a championship this year, and a lot of their success will be because they were hungry and "brought it" every night (um, except in game 3 of the conference finals). They are still going to be very good next year, but I will be quite surprised if they play with as much passion as this year after winning a championship.

But letting Randle go/trading him isn't just about beating OKC, it's about opening up opportunities for others to touch the ball more and potentially raise our ceiling as a team. Regardless of what kind of deal we sign Randle to, he simply HAS to be one of the top usage guys on the roster otherwise you are totally wasting his greatest strengths. Finch deserves credit for figuring out a way to make a less-than-ideal starting frontcourt trio work offensively.....but it's still less than ideal.

[Coolbreeze44]

Even when Randle was going really good, I kept waiting for bad Randle to show up. You would see glimpses of it along the way:

1) Heat check 3 pointers to start almost every game
2) Taking bad shots after making a good shot
3) Lazy defense
4) Too much dribbling

And then the damn burst in the OKC series and all those worries came to reality. He's simply a drag on our team and I will be more than surprised if TC and Finch didn't see it.

And it's not just OKC that we have to worry about. Other teams are getting better, your Houston's and San Antonio's. If you stand pat you are just falling further behind. We don't need to waste any more time trying to win a championship with Ju, it's not going to happen. Even if we don't have control over him opting in, we still can control whether he's on the roster next year. An extension would be ludicrous.

[rapsuperstar31]

Even when Randle was going really good, I kept waiting for bad Randle to show up. You would see glimpses of it along the way:

1) Heat check 3 pointers to start almost every game
2) Taking bad shots after making a good shot
3) Lazy defense
4) Too much dribbling

And then the damn burst in the OKC series and all those worries came to reality. He's simply a drag on our team and I will be more than surprised if TC and Finch didn't see it.

And it's not just OKC that we have to worry about. Other teams are getting better, your Houston's and San Antonio's. If you stand pat you are just falling further behind. We don't need to waste any more time trying to win a championship with Ju, it's not going to happen. Even if we don't have control over him opting in, we still can control whether he's on the roster next year. An extension would be ludicrous.

I do think Randle did some great things for the team, and was one of the main reason we did beat the Lakers with Ant and Jaden being the other main reasons. I do think when the going got tough against a great defense in OKC, instead of trying to fight through it he quit. He got fouled several times and didn't get the foul calls like every player except SGA, and rather than trying to find other ways to score or impact the games he just quit after a few non calls.

[rapsuperstar31]

Tim Connelly interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWagPeDLoUw

[Q-is-here]

Tim Connelly interview.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWagPeDLoUw

Here are my takeaways after trying to sift through all the dodging and hedging on his part, which is probably what he should do:

- He had a lot of positive things to say about Finch and the coaching staff plus he said if he had his druthers, he generally prefers continuity when it comes to team-building. I don't think Finch is going anywhere (sorry KG4Ever!) and obviously Ant isn't either.

- He does emphasize time and again the desire for "good guys". I've seen him say this enough over the years and back it up with the type of players he's brought in that I believe him. They take character seriously, so I don't see them taking risks on guys where that might be an issue (e.g. trading for Morant).

- He confirmed that turnovers and crunch time execution are big issues, but avoided stating explicitly that they would have to go out and get someone to help solve it. He suggested that Ant in particular will keep maturing as a crunch time performer. Speaking of which, Ant averaged 2.5 TOs per game post all-star break versus 3.5 TOs per game pre all-star break and 2.6 TOs per game in the playoffs. That's a crazy drop considering how his scoring and assisting stayed pretty much the same. It goes to show that Ant can pick up on stuff and learn.

- He seemed to indicate that they were interested in bringing Julius and Naz back and they in turn were interested in being back, but he was mealy-mouthed enough to obviously leave room for that not to happen.

- He feels there isn't much of a talent gap between the #17 and #31 pick.

- He feels that if you make the final four of the NBA, you basically are giving yourself a chance to win the title every time you get to that point, meaning he doesn't see some insurmountable wall in our way that requires a huge roster pivot to make the Finals. OKC looked like a pretty big wall to me, but I guess a lot can happen that could change that going forward.

[Lipoli390]

Even when Randle was going really good, I kept waiting for bad Randle to show up. You would see glimpses of it along the way:

1) Heat check 3 pointers to start almost every game
2) Taking bad shots after making a good shot
3) Lazy defense
4) Too much dribbling

And then the damn burst in the OKC series and all those worries came to reality. He's simply a drag on our team and I will be more than surprised if TC and Finch didn't see it.

And it's not just OKC that we have to worry about. Other teams are getting better, your Houston's and San Antonio's. If you stand pat you are just falling further behind. We don't need to waste any more time trying to win a championship with Ju, it's not going to happen. Even if we don't have control over him opting in, we still can control whether he's on the roster next year. An extension would be ludicrous.

I agree with you, Cool. I also agree with Q that Randle’s presence diminishes the effectiveness and development of other players like Jaden.