Top 3 seed

[sillent]

I know it's early but I meant to post this 3 days ago and today/yesterday just boosted my thoughts. 

For one off topic I love the De-John-Trae nick name it covers most of our core including DeAndre slickly.

Speaking of our core. With the team in total all coming back with a chip on their shoulders including Nate McMillan, we should see a different team and mentality from the start of the season.

They all have eye's on the championship. Although most don't expect them to go that far many at least can realistically expect another Eastern Conference Finals appearance.

After fighting out of the play in and into the playoffs we know we cannot afford a slow start. We also have a lot of players that wants to make sure people put respect on their name.

Dejounte of course wants to prove his worth and has the skill sets to do just that.

We know what Trae and John bring and with the right compliment their skillsets will be highlighted even more.

They also I'm sure want to prove that the yr before wasn't a fluke.

DeAndre not only has more to prove but also is either going to be trying to prove he is worth his new contract or playing to prove he is worth more.

Watching how much he has improved his handles so far I would say pay that man sooner than later. If he can keep up his defense to go along with his added offensive skillsets he's going to be dangerous.

I believe the Holiday brothers will be more useful than expected as well as Mo Harkless. They will be playing for more contracts as well.

Bogi as a slept on player can be very dangerous. The Serbian Assassin could be in full force if he stays healthy and can easily be in the running for 6man.

Clint should get some relief in many areas with the new additions on defense (not having to recover for so many) and offense (getting even easier looks because of so many other weapons on the court).

Onyeka Okongwu with a jump shot should be playing his way into the starting lineup by at least mid season. OO and a JC combo is athletic, flexible, switchable and a quick/tough combination for other bigs to keep up with. If OO also has a corner 3 we can have shooters and defense all over the court.

 

On top of the chip all of our players will have including those I didn't mention like Jalen Johnson and our rookies that should be enough talent/motivation to get us at the very least a 6 seed position.

 

The fact that we should be playing much faster via defense and personal we should see/cause a lot more blowout games which in return should keep our starters rested/hungry (sitting does that).

It would give our younger guys more playing and development time. It would give us more confidence and momentum as we go further in the season and allow us to be more in control of our matchups and fate.

I think this will be the no holds back yr that our core really decides to step out and shine. I'm not going to say championship yet (although y'all know me ) but I do see us getting one of the top 3 seeds in the East this up and coming season. 

I wouldn't be surprised if we were #1 at all.

[sturt]

58 minutes ago, sillent said:

I wouldn't be surprised if we were #1 at all.

I wouldn't either, except that I'm persuaded that there's almost unavoidably going to be a "break-in" period where everyone is getting used to a major starting piece... Murray... and a major second unit piece... Jalen, assuming as I do that he replaces Gallo... getting incorporated into the machine. Not counting on us getting out of the gate smoothly, but after 25 or so games, we'll begin then to see this team hit 5th gear. And Jalen really is the wild card. I'm confident he can be an improvement defensively, but I'm less confident he can contribute offensively in his first real season to a level that matches Gallo... but it's not out of the realm of possibility, either.

[macdaddy]

I hope JJ, Martin, Griffin and Kaminsky, A Holiday can be contributors.  At least some of them.   I'm very concerned about our lack of depth right now.  

[Packfill]

1 hour ago, macdaddy said:

I hope JJ, Martin, Griffin and Kaminsky, A Holiday can be contributors.  At least some of them.   I'm very concerned about our lack of depth right now.  

Baring injuries, I am not concerned about depth at this point.  I expect Bogi, J. Holiday and OO to be the primary reserves to start the season - Bogi and Holiday covering the wings and OO the bigs (Murray will cover the lionshare of the PG minutes when Trae is off the court, so I don't see any A. Holiday or any other PG carving out a big role, again, absent injury).  JJ and AJ will likely need to show out to get minutes that could otherwise go to vets like Harkless and Kaminsky.

[macdaddy]

7 minutes ago, Packfill said:

Baring injuries, I am not concerned about depth at this point.  I expect Bogi, J. Holiday and OO to be the primary reserves to start the season - Bogi and Holiday covering the wings and OO the bigs (Murray will cover the lionshare of the PG minutes when Trae is off the court, so I don't see any A. Holiday or any other PG carving out a big role, again, absent injury).  JJ and AJ will likely need to show out to get minutes that could otherwise go to vets like Harkless and Kaminsky.

Well we basically agree but as you said our top 8 is :

Trae/Murray/Hunter/JC/Capela/Bogi/Holiday/OO

I'm not comfortable with lack of depth beyond that when the caveat is 'barring injuries' on that group of 8.  5 of them have missed significant time the last few years. 

[Packfill]

2 minutes ago, macdaddy said:

Well we basically agree but as you said our top 8 is :

Trae/Murray/Hunter/JC/Capela/Bogi/Holiday/OO

I'm not comfortable with lack of depth beyond that when the caveat is 'barring injuries' on that group of 8.  5 of them have missed significant time the last few years. 

Injuries of course will be a factor.  But that is why you have vets like Harkless, Kaminsky and A. Holiday and young guys like JJ and AJ to fill the gaps.  Out of those five, a couple will need to step up at various points during the season.  

How many teams, with real play-off aspirations, are deeper?  

[sillent]

3 hours ago, Packfill said:

Injuries of course will be a factor.  But that is why you have vets like Harkless, Kaminsky and A. Holiday and young guys like JJ and AJ to fill the gaps.  Out of those five, a couple will need to step up at various points during the season.  

How many teams, with real play-off aspirations, are deeper?  

To add to his question look at the "top" teams now.

The Bucks who have been 1st a few seasons and hovering around the top but hasn't changed much besides getting older. We had their number last yr and could've gotten them the yr before if somebody didn't get hurt. (We aren't shimmying and throwing backboard lobs against teams we fear).

The Celtics are a legit young/well balanced team that just got all the way to the finals. When you play basketball that late into the season most players seem to have a harder go at it the next yr around. Besides the competition fatigue is another factor.

The Heat are like the Celtics but shorter and older in key places that could slow down and limit their effectiveness.

The 76ers are a team that may be a question mark but we hold a lot of real estate over their heads. With our added defense that should work in our favor.

Toronto Raptors had a bit of real estate over us last yr but do they have the shooters and firepower to hang when our offense and defense are clicking?

The Cleveland Cavaliers should be improved and an even scarier team but JC has been able to rise above Jarrett Allen on many occasions same as our Hawks have been able to rise above that Cleveland team.

No Defense Club 

Bulls, Hornets,Wizards all have talent but not enough defense to be legitimate contenders. Not enough defense to grant them high seeds in a long season.

No Offense Club 

Pistons and the Magic have a lot of young talent but not enough shooters to make or keep their offenses potent enough to hang shot for shot. Magic might actually be closer than the Pistons as far as having a more balanced squad but they both still have a ways to go.

Wild Cards 

Brooklyn Nets could easily be a top seed if they could get their mess together. Question is are they going to be able to do that or does all their mess go in the trash as they start over?

Pacers could be a wild card but looks like they are leaning more towards rebuild and not wild enough to be considered top 4 in the East.

Between the teams that are considered top we have a pretty good chance of catching and surpassing based on circumstances and the motivation for this season. 

 

I can see us eyeing the Warriors after their tough battle with the Timberwolves and ours with the Bucks/Celtics to go ahead to head in the NBA finals. Then it will be time for a new dynasty to emerge.

Of course our ifs is if we keep our core intact as constructed and stay motivated and healthy. I do not believe the bench will be as much of an issue as people assume.

Honestly I believe they will be a lot better than assumed and that ultimately we are still a deep team that's built to thrive in an 82 game season as well as the playoffs.