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The Neighborhood Bully

2018-19 Official Season Discussion Thread

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6 hours ago, The Boss said:

What's better for us long term, scraping into the playoffs and getting beaten in 4 or 5 games or trading Vuc and Ross and spiralling down to a bottom 6 team and a pretty good pick?

I get we need to get out from the losing ways, and making the playoffs can help with development and can also help going into the free agent market, but we'd be making those playoffs because of a guy that won't be with us after the season and a big help from a guy that has a good chance of not being with us either.

I'm kind of done with tanking but we are in a unique situation with Vuc and Ross. If trading them soon nets us some long term pieces (Fultz, Ball, Rozier etc) then I think we have to do it for the best of the franchise going forward. Doing so would also be a massive tanking move though, but to me it wouldn't really feel like it because we'd be making a smart move for the future.

Any thoughts? How many more games would we win if we lost Vuc and Ross and the biggest piece we brought in was Fultz? (considering he'd be out for a while then have to adjust).

I agree with your point. I would like to keep ross the most, but if you tell me that it is guaranteed that we are going to lose both of them, then I would try to trade them and get a better sg/pg.

i would like to get in the playoffs as well, but the bigger picture should always be to get into the finals, and not get swept in the first round (like we will probably be this season)

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Usually I'm all for tanking instead of being a fringe playoff team that never gets a star draft pick.

But this team needs some playoffs. The players need it. The fans need it. The franchise as a whole needs it. There's only so far you can go being terrible before relocation starts to become a legitimate concern. Many fans have just tuned out during this drought; we need eyeballs on the screen and asses in the seats. And the players, especially the young guys need playoff experience. There's a whole different level of intensity when your season is on the line, especially when your playing the same team over and over again.

If it were so simple as playing the lottery odds over and over I'd be all for it. But at some point you need to break the losing culture.

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8 hours ago, jec said:

Usually I'm all for tanking instead of being a fringe playoff team that never gets a star draft pick.

But this team needs some playoffs. The players need it. The fans need it. The franchise as a whole needs it. There's only so far you can go being terrible before relocation starts to become a legitimate concern. Many fans have just tuned out during this drought; we need eyeballs on the screen and asses in the seats. And the players, especially the young guys need playoff experience. There's a whole different level of intensity when your season is on the line, especially when your playing the same team over and over again.

If it were so simple as playing the lottery odds over and over I'd be all for it. But at some point you need to break the losing culture.

+1 from me.  Other than the first sentence, I’ve been saying the same things for years, mostly as a lonely voice.  The path to being good again isn’t going to be easy, but losing a lot of games isn’t going to get us there.  

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The only reason I'd even entertain Russell is if he signs for some inconsequential amount. 

Some of you guys want him because you see the random games like the other night. 13 for 19. 32 points. 7 assists to 0 turnovers. You think that's the norm. 

It's not.

His median game is 20 points on 9 of 22 shooting or 15 points on 6 of 15 shooting. 

For the first 3 seasons of his career he averaged 15 ppg on 41/34.4/ 75 shooting and a eFg% of .480

The first 30 games this year before his offensive explosion against Atlanta and the Lakers he averaged 17.5 ppg on 41/35.9/75 shooting and a eFg% of .483. 

More shots and more minutes but how overall offensive production remains similar. 

Isn't this a similar situation to Wiggins before he got paid? His production is up and he's filling a box score but he's not getting better. But he's just 21. He's not getting better but he's averaging a lot of points but he's just 22. He's not getting better but he's 23 and we gave him a crippling amount of cash. He's not terrible but we're stuck with him and his faults and can't get better. 

 

So bet on Russell. Fine. But if you don't hedge your bet by giving us an out in the near future this could really limit the team in the future.

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Quote

5. Jonathan Isaac, in flashes

Isaac is raw and unsteady on offense, but in every game, you see glimpses of the all-court wrecker he is going to be on the other end (assuming he's not made of glass):

Dude is everywhere. The power of elite length and speed lies in the ability to help more without leaving anyone open -- to in effect be in two places at once. Isaac gets away with things that are off-limits to most players -- including helping off shooters in the near corner:

The awkward, supersized Aaron Gordon-Isaac-Nikola Vucevic trio has slumped on offense over the last month; Orlando has scored just 101.8 points per 100 possessions with those three on the floor, barely above Chicago's league-worst mark. That alignment may be unworkable in the long run. We still don't really know what Gordon is on offense.

But Orlando is smothering opposing offenses with that trio on the floor, and Isaac is a big part of that. He looks comfortable defending both forward positions in his weirdo role on this weirdo team.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25583225/10-things-like-including-steph-curry-nba

Isaac getting some love from Lowe.

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14 minutes ago, Odin said:

Isaac getting some love from Lowe.

Wonder if the DeAndre Jordan part explains the strategy our centers employ sometimes. "Don't contest shots you can't get to because it leaves us vulnerable to offensive rebounds". 

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35 minutes ago, ?4thewin said:

Wonder if the DeAndre Jordan part explains the strategy our centers employ sometimes. "Don't contest shots you can't get to because it leaves us vulnerable to offensive rebounds". 

Maybe, but if so, it is not very effective.

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1 hour ago, ?4thewin said:

The only reason I'd even entertain Russell is if he signs for some inconsequential amount. 

Some of you guys want him because you see the random games like the other night. 13 for 19. 32 points. 7 assists to 0 turnovers. You think that's the norm. 

It's not.

His median game is 20 points on 9 of 22 shooting or 15 points on 6 of 15 shooting. 

For the first 3 seasons of his career he averaged 15 ppg on 41/34.4/ 75 shooting and a eFg% of .480

The first 30 games this year before his offensive explosion against Atlanta and the Lakers he averaged 17.5 ppg on 41/35.9/75 shooting and a eFg% of .483. 

More shots and more minutes but how overall offensive production remains similar. 

Isn't this a similar situation to Wiggins before he got paid? His production is up and he's filling a box score but he's not getting better. But he's just 21. He's not getting better but he's averaging a lot of points but he's just 22. He's not getting better but he's 23 and we gave him a crippling amount of cash. He's not terrible but we're stuck with him and his faults and can't get better. 

 

So bet on Russell. Fine. But if you don't hedge your bet by giving us an out in the near future this could really limit the team in the future.

Yeah Russell concerns me.

I’m not thrilled with any of the players possibly available. Think I rather just take a shot on Fultz or wait to see who wants out by the deadline.

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12 minutes ago, Magicman28 said:

Yeah Russell concerns me.

I’m not thrilled with any of the players possibly available. Think I rather just take a shot on Fultz or wait to see who wants out by the deadline.

Fultz is too high risk for where we are in our rebuild right now. We need a starting PG that can shoot 3s to space the floor, pass well,  get to the hole, draw fouls, and defend. It's a lot to ask for but IMO we should hold out and get the guy we really want.

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