Do you honestly think Russell would have developed here the way Atkinson has developed him? Sure, it's a decision that didn't have to be made, and I wish I would have gotten to see Russell develop here, but it begs the question, does Walton have the tools to develop players successfully? Or is that more on the organization or individual player? From the top to bottom, Brooklyn has done it the "right" way; I don't think we have the system in place from top to bottom right now for players to develop successfully...
Development .... schmelopment. We made the choice to bring in a more mature young and equally talented in different ways PG and potential leader by all indications. Pretty telling of you with no support of your grandson.
As I stated....IF JC/Larry trade still happens, we would not need to stretch both to afford James. Say we play this hindsight game, mgmt. still gets the same discount from Deng to get stretched waive and does get moved that way, now just sitting on Mozgov there were MULTIPLE expiring deals that got dealt for 2 2nds here and there I.E. Howard trade, still go into this off-season with potentially 20 or so mill left to spent WITH Randle at 12mill per. Dlo part wont get into cause at the time of the trade I was mad and did hate on Dlo for his "mentality" and lack of maturity but this team would've done better with James, Dlo, Randle vs. what we currently have, Dlo/Randle would've/could've been more assets to trade for AD, whether Pelicans take them is a different topic to debate on but regardless NOP didn't take the kitchen sink offer this season and sounds like they still wont deal with LA this off-season ether. James with the young core + a 20mill ish range FA would be contenders IMO, this 2 star stuff is balony, Pau wasn't a star on Kobe lvl and still got it done, I'd consider a fully talented peak of Ball/Randle/Ingram=MAX lvl star
Exactly. I was for the Luke hire because most people in the business loved it. The problem is Luke chose terrible assistants. WHY IS MARK MADSEN STILL HERE?!?! Cause he went to Stanford so he must be smart? Miles Simon? I still think Luke could be a good coach, but he did himself no favors by hiring buddies.
I keep hearing how DLO would not have become the player he is now in LA. I have followed the NBA since 1994 and the Lakers since 1997. i have also read and/or watched a lot of stuff about previous generations of BB players. I get the fact that the role on the team can bebefit a player and for example allow him to shoot at will and get great stats by doing so. DLO must be the first player I've heard of who flat our became good thanks to the change of scenery at the NBA level.
So...fire maglinka. I wanted to hire Atkinson and take on salary for picks like bkn did. Said so at the time.
I just have to point out that Russ is top 10 in assists and top 15 in points. Calling him a scorer and suggesting there are a lot of players like him is just inaccurate.
Trodgers you must be feeling really good right now watching D-Lo kill it like you always predicted he would?
lol, what's "good" mean in this situation? i've said the FO made some terrible decisions in the past couple of years. i was right. do i feel good? no.
It’s complicated. I’d rather be following him on LA. No doubt. As for his performance, you hit some and you miss some. Like Upshaw. I didn’t know how serious his drugs issues were. I wouldn’t max Russ. I don’t trust his knees that much. 5 years, 90m. He has to become more efficient at some point. I think he can be a 45-40-83 shooter at about 24/8 to 25/10 on a deep playoff team. That’s a good number 2 pick, a good quality all-star, and good 1b. I’m enjoying watching this year’s successes for him so far
Yeah I did notice that he's shooting 43/37/79...you'd want that to get up to the 45-40-85 mark to get him to that next level. I agree I see him around the 23-8-5 mark at his peak...not a #1 but a solid 1b on a playoff team. Would actually be good to get him back right about now and put him next to LeBron...
Hated the DLO trade from minute one. Still do. Stats were clear that he had tons of potential. We sold way too low. Period. And all that side talk about him was just a load of BS. The lack of leadership and chaos at the top of the organization trickled down to the players. In many ways that’s still the case. It’s why you see so little pride in these guys.
The front office doesn’t need to write off any of these moves. They need to take a long hard look at - trading DLO, Zubac, and Lou - letting Randle, Lopez, etc walk - preaching culture and leadership while signing knuckle heads - inexperience at every level including things like our medical staff that can’t seem to keep anyone on the floor Etc, etc, etc. Own the mistakes and correct them. Bolster our staff. Trust our scouts. Get some veterans on the coaching staff AND to help out in the front office. Basically, lead.
