Ryan out as GM

[Indy]

Yea that's probably the best time actually given the offseason prep and evaluation for the rest of the season. I just imagine it'd be hard for an exec to take over at this point and go right into a season with no prep.

agreed. that is why it will be Jones. But we will pretend to do an extensive search. Maybe Sarver will tell him who to hire in his staff that would be better at the non-player interaction stuff. Or maybe Jones is great at that. I don't know.

[Split T]

Whenever you see a young player plagued by inconsistency, with boneheaded plays and highlight plays lumped in with each other, it either means that you're dealing with a knucklehead who'll never get it OR a young star looking for a breakout season. Josh Jackson looks an awful lot like the latter. I think that he was hurt by Triano -- who really bonded with him -- no longer being here and it might take him a bit to establish the same kind of rapport with Igor (who might do well to sit him). Trade him and watch him become a perennial all-star.

I think Jackson might look a lot better with Booker out there. Take the pressure of being the main creator off him and he'll fit in better. He's not ready for that. The passing has been fun.

[virtual9mm]

Whenever you see a young player plagued by inconsistency, with boneheaded plays and highlight plays lumped in with each other, it either means that you're dealing with a knucklehead who'll never get it OR a young star looking for a breakout season. Josh Jackson looks an awful lot like the latter. I think that he was hurt by Triano -- who really bonded with him -- no longer being here and it might take him a bit to establish the same kind of rapport with Igor (who might do well to sit him). Trade him and watch him become a perennial all-star.

I think Jackson might look a lot better with Booker out there. Take the pressure of being the main creator off him and he'll fit in better. He's not ready for that. The passing has been fun.

It really does come down to shot selection, doesn't it. Make him a distributor and ask him to play in control and he does look pretty good. Make him the go-to-guy and he just tries too hard.

[specialsauce]

I would love to trade Jackson and the Mil pick for Lillard

ahha of course we'd love that. POR, not so much.

That's a package that could entice teams actually looking to rebuild, not to remain competitive. And regardless of team direction, that's way too low for a star of Lillard's caliber. Maybe MEM for Conley if they realize they are past it and blow it up?

Dreaming is free!

[ShelC]

Jackson will look at a lot better with Booker out there. He's a complementary player, not a go-to guy or a full time distributor. I love his handles and how he can create his own shot, but he can't finish with the jumper which will be an ongoing issue.

[Wormwood]

1. Jackson has been terrible. Terrible last year. Terrible in the summer league. Terrible in the preseason. Shooting 33% overall, 16.7% from three point range. His plus minus numbers aren't good either. I didn't much like him coming out of college, and he came with something of a knucklehead reputation after the altercation. Trading him for a PG wouldn't hurt my feelings in the slightest. We have 3 other SFs I'd rather see on the court as it is (Ariza, Warren, Bridges). Honestly, taking someone like Tyrus Jones in trade for Jackson is probably the smart move, given one has shown something good, and the other has been awful but has a higher theoretical upside. Given his abysmal play, if we're in a win now mode he can go.

2. Speaking of Tyrus Jones, of all the PGs who have been mentioned, I think he has the greatest likelihood to be a mid-to-long term solution. Young, great +/-, solid shooter, fantastic RPM (7th among PGs, better than Fleet or Dinwiddie), not ball dominant underused, buried on the bench, ridiculously good assist to TO ratio, 3rd in the league in steals per 48, 10th in the league in steals per personal foul. Way better shooter than Dinwiddie. I can see him being something of a Rubio in terms of game effect.

If we can get Tyrus Jones for anything less than an unprotected first, Booker, or Ayton, you have to do it. He's already producing at a high level, and he's young (22). Hell, I'd off a lotto or top-10 protected first for him, no questions asked.

[Superbone]

Sounds like you had your mind made up about Jackson before he even got here. He was definitely not terrible the second half of last season. He is currently one of our best distributors on the team and may be the best at getting Ayton the ball. He is a work in progress. He has an intensity that you cannot teach. I'm willing to give him some time.

[Split T]

Jackson has been bad, but he's got so much talent and skill that I'd hesitate to move him. At least in a temporary move. If he's part of a package for a legit core piece, I'd be ok. I wouldn't trade him for Tyus Jones though. Tyus is intriguing and his advanced stats are impressive, but I think he's still a risk. He's done it in limited minutes and I think he projects as a game manager, role playing PG. Not a star. I like Tyus though and wouldn't be opposed to trading for him.

I actually like Delon Wright the best of the restricted FA pg's to be. He's big, defends, shoots, and can pass. He's no star either, but he feels obtainable being the 3rd PG in Toronto.

[BlaCkAdDa]

I don't want to trade Jackson unless we're getting a near certain all star. He's not the one we should give up on.

[SDC]

dont think lonzo is the type of player who fits in with lebron and the lakers long term future.

[Split T]

https://twitter.com/esidery/status/1049772132882776064

They ended up trading for a pick higher than SGA to get Bridges. Was this a we wanted both scenario or did McD get vetoed.

[INFORMER]

So I guess the spin is that it was James Jones who wanted Mikal Bridges?

[EDC]

Well to be fair we were kinda low on small forwards.

[Superbone]

So I guess the spin is that it was James Jones who wanted Mikal Bridges?

That makes a lot more sense than Sarver wanting him. If that's the case and McD wanted Alexander then maybe not having a PG is not what led to the firing. Matches up more with what you're saying INF and that Sarver was grooming Jones all along. Sarver was just waiting for a little more seasoning of Jones before pulling the trigger. This theory makes the most sense to me. Also fits the strange timing as then timing really isn't an issue. It all lines up for me.

[In2ition]

I think that the silver lining to Ryan getting fired is that we see more of INF on the forum now.

[ShelC]

Need more clarity of the draft trade thing with SGA vs Mikal. If James Jones won out on Mikal over McD/SGA, they should've fired McD right then and there and made Jones GM. And I still don't understand why you draft Bridges and then sign Ariza.

[Split T]

Ya, seems strange. Or maybe we just lied about Bridges being the guy we wanted. We called Philly to trade up, but we were planning on taking SGA. When Philly said no, we tried with Charlotte, but they traded with LA instead. Philly called back when Zhaire was still there and asked if we wanted Bridges. We obviously liked Bridges because we moved the Heat pick for him, but maybe SGA was always the real target.

[OE32]

Ya, seems strange. Or maybe we just lied about Bridges being the guy we wanted. We called Philly to trade up, but we were planning on taking SGA. When Philly said no, we tried with Charlotte, but they traded with LA instead. Philly called back when Zhaire was still there and asked if we wanted Bridges. We obviously liked Bridges because we moved the Heat pick for him, but maybe SGA was always the real target.

This is my take.

[Indy]

I think that the silver lining to Ryan getting fired is that we see more of INF on the forum now.

best take in this thread

[Indy]

Sounds like you had your mind made up about Jackson before he even got here. He was definitely not terrible the second half of last season. He is currently one of our best distributors on the team and may be the best at getting Ayton the ball. He is a work in progress. He has an intensity that you cannot teach. I'm willing to give him some time.

He was. He was less terrible the last 23 games of the season (after the all-star break), but he was SO awful the first 60 games that we all want to think the last 6 weeks of the season were really the second 4 months of the season. he has a ton of potential...