(12-17-2021, 02:09 PM)Chicagojk Wrote: I agree. I think the piece I am envisioning is a PF who can play on the perimeter as well....more than a Center. We have limited assets so we need to prioritize. I think the center is much easier to find. I am just not sure if there is a deal for that PF right now. If not, we need to find a way to get better center play. I think finding a short term solution will be available to us. Even if that is just 15% better than what we already have.
Re-jiggering the big-man roster might be a goal.
Simple Band-Aid?
But it seems like there is a pretty simple and obvious solution in the meantime -- deploying KP as strictly a floor-spacer when he is playing with a non-shooting big (and actually arranging the offense to REALLY space the floor, of course). That has been proven to work.
Why aren't they doing it?
I understand that KP doesn't prefer that, but if they are really employing a sub-optimal system just to satisfy KP's druthers and try to put him into All-Star consideration, I have to question their priorities.
I don't doubt that one of Kidd's primary mandates was to find a way to unlock KP, but at this extreme, it is operating to the detriment of Luka's ability to drive to the rim. The roster was built on the idea that Luka would drive to the rim and either score or take advantage of the defensive attention he draws to kick out to a well-spaced cast of shooters. The three-point shooting has received a lot of attention, but it seems to me that equally, if not more, important, is the undercutting of Luka's ability to get to the rim.
It seems that the decision to cater to KP's desires to this extent is operating to the detriment of Luka's ability to be effective, and turning the offense into a clogged-up, clunky mess.
What was the plan?
As far as why that decision is being made, I don't think it's mainly to improve KP's trade value, although it may end up having that effect. I don't think this organization would crater their offense and playoff chances for a whole season just in the hopes of getting a little more out of a trade of KP, whose trade value is probably affected much more by his inability to stay healthy than anything else.
I think Plan A was to rehabilitate KP and try to see if a KP-centric offense could work in a system with Luka. KP evidently likes it better, but the results seem to be that now, neither KP nor Luka is doing particularly well, and the offense has fallen apart, with its former centerpiece inhibited by reins.
For now, I am assuming that if they give the experiment the old college try, and become convinced it can't work, they will make a course alteration. If, OTOH, they are trying to choose between going all-in on either KP or Luka, I would find the choice of KP unfathomable, but it might be where they are heading.