SunsSince92 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 11:59 pm
Sunsfanatic76 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 7:24 pm
Mori Chu wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 4:11 pm
Really appreciate your post, '76. I agree with your opinion that PG is a problem for us. When I look at the nice lists of players you've provided, though, I have trouble figuring out how any of those guys would actually solve our problems. If we were to acquire one of those PGs, we'd have to actually start him for it to make a difference. Who are we benching? Beal? Allen?
It sort of feels like we're stuck with this roster, and we need to make internal improvements in order to actually get better. Some of that might just come with time, from playing together more. Some of it could come from a coaching change (firing Vogel).
I'm not sure that there's much we can do. We built this roster, and despite being really impressive on paper and having tons of firepower, it doesn't actually work that well on the court. I love that tweet that said that 4 of our 6 best players are shooting guards, and a fifth one is a 7' guy who plays like a shooting guard. That pretty much sums it up. We overloaded on shooting and scoring and didn't get enough playmaking, defense, strength, size, or speed.
For sure there's currently no ideal solution given our current financial and asset restrictions. And I'm not in the camp to blow it up and try to trade Durant as a legitimate out either. I get the Beal dilemma in hyopothetically coming off the bench at his salary. Personally, I'd look to have Beal bring the ball up more at the one in order to move book back to his more natural position at the 2 in order to have both him and Durant as offensive focal points to create more spacing by spreading the floor and letting Beal drive to the rim with Book/ Durant flaring out on the wings for lateral gravity. I think Beal being really good at getting to the rim would just create better mismatches in an uptempo scheme. In this, I'd feel that with both Book and Durant flaring out to the wings and pulling defenders, it'd create more open pathways for Beal drives (to get him into a better rythm early on as well as create more pathways for players like Allen and/or Okogie to cut more. So the suggestion for point guard would be primarily to lead and setup the bench better to get the role players in a better and more productive rythm as well.
This guard could also help sustain offensive continuity when book or beal sits in order to reduce the apparent early exhaustion of Booker trying to carry BOTH the playmaking and scoring loads, allowing him to focus solely on his elite scoring gifts rather than having to split decisions on the fly. So predominantly, the guard addition would play with the 2nd unit, but could also offer situational minutes when our offense gets sloppy or lazy.
These other players I'm suggesting are just more simplified roles that address our current weaknesses better than our current underperforming options that we're hoping can somehow excel outside of their current skillsets. We all know what our current bench players range of abilities are/ capable of in their careers. We have a lot of low end one way talent that doesn't really address our glaring weaknesses. From my suggestions:
Kai Jones- Addresses more size, athleticism, vertical post threat, post/rim protection, size for switchability and lateral recovery defense.
D Cousins or Howard or maybe even Vernon Carey Jr- addresses rebounding/size/ dominant bench post player (If we want to go younger)?
RJ Nembhard, Rubio, or Raul Neto, etc?- Would address our need for a natural playmaker/game manager/ ballhandler for our bench needs to reduce the pressure on Booker (situationally) but also get/keep our bench in a good rythm. I agree with you that our options are extraordinarily limited, that's why I'm looking to identify the best dollar store options available for us absent of trade because of our lack of assets, etc.
SunsSince92 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 11:59 pm
'So predominantly, the guard addition would play with the 2nd unit, but could also offer situational minutes when our offense gets sloppy or lazy'
Who is that guard passing to in the second unit with Booker and Beal off the floor? Outside of Gordon we don't have a reliable scorer off the bench. If we're playing Durant with this guard in the second unit then I struggle to see how the offense would differ from what we're running now as it'd surely just devolve into more KD iso?
Definitely a fair and legitimate question!
To answer this question I'd first say that in Having Beal be the primary ballhandler/ facilitator and having Book go back to his natural position at SG in which he's more gifted and lethal at should clearly give our offense a significant boost as well as reduce the overall pressure induced exhaustion/ reduced efficiency/wear and tear throughout the first three quarters on Booker, leaving him more fresh and energized for the 4th quarter and hopefully remedying our 4th quarter meltdowns better. Now for the solution as to who this point guard signing would actually be passing to aside from just Gordon as an offensive threat?
Although I have no disdain or animosity for any of our bench players, I'd again look to trade or waive/cut the ones that have unfortunately been underperforming the most over these 40 games. Nothing personal, but we're "in it to win it" right?? Now there could actually be a multitude of possible options via trades, our exceptions or via the unsigned/ buyout pool. But we DO HAVE TO strongly consider making moves to replace those players not performing for players that we can depend on? The trades I'd personally look at under current circumstances would be:
Atlanta- It's been reported that they're now open to almost anything? So would/could they consider like a Little/Okogie/Watanabe/ 2 2nds for P Mills and Saddiq Bey? Or maybe just Saddiq Bey and Garrison Matthews for Little/Watanabe/ 2 nds? Saddiq Bey hasn't been good defensively, But he's a very solid 3 pt shooter with decent size at 6'7, and Matthews is a legit knock down shooter too.
Toronto- They're currently on the verge of a complete rebuild around their young core AND they could use a more experienced vet center option for depth with Poetl out with injury. Would/could they consider something like Little/Bates Diop/ Eubanks/ 2nds for Chris Boucher? Or maybe a Little/Eubanks/ Watanabe/ 2 2nds for Porter Jr and Jalen Mcdaniels?
Memphis- The Grizz lost Morant for the season and are most likely tanking being in the 13th spot now. Their waiving Biyombo furthers this perspective. I don't think we could get Smart obviously, But would/could they maybe consider a little/ Watanabe/ 2nd for D rose and Zaire Williams or D rose and Konchar?
Utah- Utah (If they trade Markannen and tank), would they maybe consider a trade of Little/Watanabe/Bates Diop/Eubanks/ 3 2nds for Olynyk and Jason Preston?
Washington- As Washington is now fully entering into their rebuild, would they maybe consider a trade of Little/Watanabe/ Bates Diop/ 3 2nds for Delon Wright and Muscala? or maybe even just a trade of Little/Bol/ Eubanks/ 2 2nds for Muscala/ Baldwin Jr/ Butler?
But even if none of these trades becomes a reality, there are still multiple good options still available from the current unsigned/unrestricted free agency pool. Really, any of:
Kai Jones, Mohammed Gueye, Kostas Antetekoupo, Donta Hall (overseas buyout) for size, elite athleticism, shotblocking, very mobile/switchable long fluid defender.
D Cousins, Vernon Carey Jr, D Howard (overseas buyout)? for frontcourt size, scoring, PHYSICALITY, REBOUNDING, TOUGHNESS. But also would give us Nurkic insurance IF he goes down for any period of time with injury?
Stanley Johnson, Mo Harkless, Noah Vonleh, Theo Pinson, Feron Hunt, Justin Lewis, Brandon Slater (2- way SF), Cameron McGriff (two way 3/4).
TJ Warren, Joey Hauser, Matthew Hurt, Ryan Turrel, Pter Cornelie (2 way 4/5), Makur Makur (2 way 4/5), Mohammed Gueye (two way versatile multipositional 4/5).
Rubio, John Wall, Raul Neto,
Ryan Nembhard, Shaq Harrison, Shariffe Cooper, Elf Payton, Michael Carter Williams, Ashton Hagans, etc for backup guard options?
There's a multitude of options for us to consider even if we can't find a beneficial trade. And plenty of available gunners/ scorers even on the vet min possibly too.
