Completely agree. I'm one of a few folks who still have patience with these guys but you can't pass on George.
I agree with others that Paul George is a 1st Tier superstar. And I think he hasn't peaked yet. I feel he has another gear.
I don't think there's enough evidence to say Randle has reached his ceiling. He's improved statistically in almost any category this year.
Yeah. He's only 22. I think he can get better. I don't think he'll get too much better, but he can and will improve a little. The main thing will be he will just gt smarter and see things developing better. Not sure he can develop a good jumper or an adequate right hand, but experience alone will help him not dribble into a bunch of guys so often.
Defensively, Ingram would guard SGs. Frankly that might be his better spot defensively anyways until he puts some meat on those bones. He has more than enough athleticism to handle the defensive assignments and his length would be a serious issue for opposing players. For example, Durant played SG early in his career. Is it ideal? Perhaps not as ultimately both are SFs. I'm not saying 100% it'll work out and perhaps the duo would need to be broken up down the road for an optimal lineup but I am saying I 100% disagree with comments I've read that people either don't want PG or would prefer Butler or would rather keep DAR because "PG and BI play the same position". I don't believe in passing on a player because of positions. I believe in adding talent and then working it out from there.
He's improved with his right. The jumper is a concern. The biggest problem is: can he improve his defensive awareness? I've seen recently a little more awareness but he's still late and it's not consistent at all. There's still a ton more room for growth. I think it's clear we see what Clarkson is though.
Magic said it won't be a quick fix and I agree with him. I don't see any big signings or trades until the summer of 2018. The Warriors got their core draft picks (Curry, Thompson, Barnes, Green) over a stretch of 4 years, from 2009 to 2012. Two years after they got their first core piece in Curry, they won 23 games in 2011-12. And they became contenders in 2014-15. If we are going by the same GSW model, our core draft picks are from 2014 to 2016/17. Two years after we got Randle/JC we are winning around 25-30 games this season. That puts our timeline somewhere around the 2019-20 season. What we need is patience.
I would love to get PG without giving up Ingram, but my reason would be to then move Ingram for another player. (ie Butler) Having Butler and George and possibly Russell under contract with a max slot available this offseason? We could land a player like Griffin and be right back in the thick of it.
Do you honestly think Magic is gonna wait around for 3 or 4 more years for these guys to develop? That's under the assumption they all continue to make substantial improvements in their game which is a big if. If a superstar is there to be had and it's for the right deal or combination of players the Lakers need to do it.
Julius has not peaked. Not even close. Where does this nonsense come from? Basketball players peak at around 28 years old. He's got a good 5-6 years.
It's not really a big if. It's actually unnatural for a group this young and talented to not improve substantially.
It's absolutely a big if. You're comparing them to what the Warriors did and for them to reach that you need at least a couple of guys to be legit stars in this league. Right now they're maybe slightly above average NBA players. That's a big jump to All Star and maybe beyond that.
According to who? Plenty of players peak in their second or third season. Hell some plateau in their rookie season.
Well they certainly have the quality but we've got quantity. Add one big FA signing in 2018 or 2019 and we're back in business.
Yeah. And following the Golden State model is dangerous. Despite how many light years ahead of everyone else Lacob says they are, they got lucky...VERY lucky...more than once. No one could have projected Steph to be what he has become. Every team in the league passed on Draymond at least once. Klay is really the only one that kind of projected to be about what they thought he might become out of college. If we can unload ALL our young talent to land us PG13 and another star (ie Butler) you do it and don't look back. The only case I can make for keeping it all is that GS is such a juggernaut, it might be pointless to build a team of players that are all roughly the same age as their core since we'd likely never beat them since they have 2 of the top 4 players in the league and 4 of the top 25 players.
That is true, but Randle has shown growth in several aspects of his game. Evidence suggest he's much more likely to show progress than plateau.
