JustSomeGuy

Dre needs to be packaged and on another team. Especially now that his knees are giving him problems again.

Hunter can’t even defend forwards, can barely dribble, and doesn’t pass. Anyone on this board who tries to slot him as a guard loses immediate credibility in basketball conversation IMO

And it’s like all guards that fit the same profile.

I really don’t think this team needs a big shakeup as much as we need better paint protection, and legitimate 3&D talent on the wings. Hunter has been what he is and the bottom of our rotation has been absolutely awful. Hasnt helped that none of our rookies have been healthy enough to try to claim a spot in the rotation either.

Seth Lundy recalled. Any chance we see him take minutes from the Mat/tthewe?

Would but Stockton, Steve Nash and CP3 above Trae, and Westbrook somewhere in there too. So top 5 is possible but top ten absolutely.

To answer the question though I think we really need one more knock down shooter in the rotation. I’m only willing to deal a starter if it returns a clear upgrade. If AJ isn’t going to play his way into the rotation I’d be willing to let him go as well as Bufkin, since there’s really no spot for him.

The Spurs, TF

I love this because Nate was so entrenched with his rotations we would go away from hot hands too often.

Clearly there’s something he’s not doing. He fell out of the rotation last year when Quin took over too. Struggled in limited SL time and hasn’t seemed super comfortable with his on court minutes this season. Hope he figures it out because we need him but there’s also not a ton of minutes left for him either. Between DJ-Bogi-Hunter-JJ/Bey who do you sit for him?

I don’t think people realized how low John’s motor was until they see guys actually hustle to create extra possessions or create more shots. The thing about Dre, JJ, Bogi, and Bey is on any given night 2 of the 4 are capable of scoring 20, creating their own shots, and if all four are playing well it greatly increases our depth and competitiveness.

JJ is exactly the wing we needed and he’s been stashed on the bench LOL

It’s projected success versus actual success. The Bucks had both with Jrue, and Jrue has taken them to higher heights than Dame did with Portland. His defensive impact is being seen with Boston and is being missed in Milwaukee. The NBA is a star driven league but I think it’s been proven a lot lately that more stars doesn’t automatically equal more success.

The Bucks really underestimated Jrue

Last year we talked a couple like that.

We’ve seen this from him multiple years before. Not worried at all.

Put me down with this team as a 50 win squad sans injuries. I think our regular season ceiling is the 3 seed.

We saw a “better” JC when we were a worse, talentless team and he was getting 20-10 with teams sleepwalking into our arena every night. And you’re just making my point again with Ingles. Quin prefers to play 4 out with playmakers on the perimeter. Could he have found a role for JC? Probably. But you don’t pay guys you have to scheme into impact 25 million a year. Ans again, it doesn’t matter what you “think” Quin could’ve done to unlock It’s a pointless and purely speculative argument because the reality is Quin was a part of the braintrust that decided to trade him away. Meaning QUIN DIDN’T WANT HIM. Y’all make it sound like the team purposefully sabotaged his career and traded him for nothing to embarrass him, ignoring the fact that if he was as talented as some on this board think he is, teams would have still given up something of value for him knowing the scheme alone was the problem. That isn’t what happened.

Your first point leads with a hypothetical/speculative conversation which can’t be proven but still makes my main point. His production was replaceable with cheaper players with higher upside. Not ironically his upward trajectory as a winning coach coincided with the emergence of Joe Ingles, Jae Crowder, and co in Utah’s lineups. Derrick Favors took a step back in minutes on court and as an offensive focus. His scoring production dropped every winning season Quin was in Utah which coincided with the ascendance of the team in the West. He was also ten times the interior defender John Collins is.

I don’t really know what his best system is, Especially not in this modern NBA. He’s not a strong enough post player to be a featured big in a half court offense and not a good enough perimeter player to play in a 4 out offense. He can’t even play as a small ball 5. Especially not in a league with Embiid, Jokic, Gobert, Wemby, etc. I would guess his best game would be as a mid range pick and pop 4, a la, Karl Malone in the 90s but that isn’t the way the game is played anymore. I think his best role is a hustle big, like a Kenneth Faried or Taj Gibson. Winning players but hardly all stars and not paid like them. Maybe JJJ in Memphis but he isn’t as good a rim defender despite his athleticism. And I disagree that Quin’s system would be good for him for two reasons 1. Because Quin didn’t see him as a system fit. He coached him for half the season and if his input loomed as large as everyone speculated it did in personnel decisions, John would still be here if he wanted him here. His perimeter limitations hurt him. And if a salary dump was the goal there were easier ways to do that with players who were more coveted on the market that would have returned more value. 2. Because he does none of the things well that Quin’s traditional 4s have done. Even look at the preseason and as much on ball action as he have seen from JJ and Bey. John can’t do any of that consistently or effectively. So this isn’t me hating on John, just acknowledging his limitations and poor fit.

So you’re saying Trae forced John out? And the team gave him away for nothing to Utah when there were better deals on the table… because why? I don’t dislike John. I think he is a winning rotational player. What I didn’t like was his contract and production value, which made him expendable. There are a lot of apologists for his game who make all of his failures, other players/circumstances fault. John is, at best, a third/fourth option whose star profile rose because he was playing on a talentless roster and got a chance to put up more numbers than he otherwise would’ve. Just because he can jump high at the rim doesn’t mean he was good. Especially when he’s a poor post defender, poor perimeter defender, poor playmaker, poor shot creator, and last season a poor spot up shooter, who deals with long bouts of ineffectiveness. The man literally had a two rebound playoff game against a team that played a 4 guard offense.

And coupled with the off-season talk about him, in particular, buying into his role I think there’s some smoke but we will see how it plays out.

IIRC didn’t he wipe his IG this off-season when the trade rumors began?

Agree that Hunter situation looks odd. No real proof but the Energy there doesn’t feel right. I don’t think he lasts the season here.

The energy with this team is palpable. Last year the team looked like they had a 2 ton gorilla on their backs all the time. Everyone looks like they’re playing free and having fun, especially Trae.