07-29-2023, 02:18 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-29-2023, 02:18 PM by KillerLeft.)
(07-29-2023, 02:13 PM)F Gump Wrote: It's this truth that I think has been missing in your predictions of gloom and doom in 2029 - which is, the approach of adding a really good piece here, and another there, can change everything. And there's a current indication that they may be heading in that direction. It's very doable.
The point being, while you look at 2029 as doomed because "Kyrie won't be here," you also have to look at 2023-2029 as a time span so long that it can easily provide numerous opportunities to add and develop MULTIPLE players who can be difference-makers, such that Kyrie isn't really missed (assuming he's gone).
Aren't they already starting to put some building blocks in place around Luka, who can be really good by the time we get to 2029? For example, what if Lively, OMax, and GWill all develop into key starters who turn out to be as good next to Luka as we think they will be? What if Green takes another step or three in his game? What if Hardy becomes Kyrie-Light by the time Kyrie's contract ends? What if Kyrie as he starts to age out likes it here, and re-signs to play as your 6th Man, a walking bucket off the bench like Jamal Crawford or Lou Williams did in similar age bracket?
And what about players they don't have yet, but that will get in 2024, 2025, and 2026 and who will have the opportunity to make an impact by the time we get to 2027, 2029, and 2029?
Can't this team grow, so that 2025-2029 will be even BETTER than 2023-2025?
Right, except each time they make a deal like this one (this all started as a debate about giving an unprotected '27 for Clint Capela, who ironically you, my biggest combatant in this fight, would also not choose to do for largely the exact same reasoning as me) they are left with fewer "tools" to make the kind of moves you're talking about here.
It is specifically because they are beginning to show an ability to identify smart moves and execute them that I wish they had more tools to use in the future, not fewer.