4. The Four are nowhere near as promising as the Detroit (or even Dallas) team you're trying to duplicate. Favors has to become Sheed, Kanter a Wallace, Burks a Rip Hamilton, Gordon Hayward a Prince, and you still don't have a crunch time stud point guard. Think about what you're expecting these guys to develop into and then compare that to what they've shown thus far.
Hi all. Lemme jump in here for a tidbit.
1) Favors has to become Sheed. Oh, so Favors has to be a career 14.6/6.7 player, and has to peak at 19.3/8.2 in his seventh season in the NBA. Favors already is AT LEAST as good defensively, Rebounds at a similar clip, and could easily score that much given the minutes. Favors is easily more promising.
2) Gordon Hayward has to become Tayshaun Prince. A career 12.9/4.7/2.7 player, while averaging 36.8% from three, and 46.4% FG. In his second season in the NBA, he is averaging 12 ppg, 3apg, and 3rpg. Tayshaun peaked at 15/5/3. For Hayward, that stat line seems very obtainable.
3) Burks has to become Rip Hamilton. This is probably the only unlikely scenario. Rip has career stats of 17.7/3.5apg/3/3rpg. He peaked at 20.1ppg, 4.9apg, and 3.9rpg. He also shot 45.8% from three in an 80 game season, as well as shooting nearly 50% from the field. Burks is a much different player than Rip. He has the potential to be as good as him, but in a different way (along the Dwayne Wade, Brandon Roy mould). Is this the go to scorer that we can take in this draft? At a 13th-14th pick? Doubtful.
4) Kanter has to become Ben Wallace. Kanter will never be a 4-time defensive MVP. Will he be a good defensive center? From what I have seen, absolutely. His post-defense is a work in progress, but he is phenomenal in the pick and roll.
Bench: We have sap, they had Memo. Obviously they had other great bench players, but this is something that isn't as much of a worry at this point in time.
EDIT, For Cyrone: This team currently has no Billups. And by that, I don't mean that we don't have an above-average point guard. Because really, Chauncey is not an AMAZING distributor, lights-out shooter, or a surefire sharpshooter. What he can do, most-improtantly, is a) get at the line, and hit FTs at an amazing clip b) hit big shots, and make clutch-time plays. Getting a decent point guard for this team won't be very difficult. Getting a clutch player for us, will. I can't see Millsap being nearly as effective in late game situations, in comparison to Billups. So, our only hope, is that either a) Burks or Hayward pan out to become big-time players, or b) trade Al for a pick that becomes one.
So, are the Four NOWHERE near as promising as Detroit's 4? Not really. Favors has a much higher ceiling than Rasheed, Hayward will be at least as good as Tayshaun, probably better as well. Will Kanter be as good (defensively) as Wallace? Nope. Will he be able to hold his own at the 5? Yep. Is he a liability offensively? Nope. I say its a draw. Burks and Rip are different players, but Ill hand it to you in regards to Rip being much more promising in his rookie season than Burks has been, even though he was 21 when he was drafted.
Our core four definitely have more potential than you seem to think. If we can somehow land an 8th pick in this upcoming draft from Golden State, trade Al to the Bucks/Rockets/whoever if we make it to the playoffs, we now have a core four, a decent point guard, potentially Kendall Marshall/Barnes as an 8th pick, Millsap, and decent bench pieces. Do we NEED to miss the playoffs this year? Absolutely not. Should we trade Al? Absolutely. Keep in mind, us making the playoffs makes Al MUCH more tradable, especially during draft time. If George Hill merited a pick like Kawhi Leonard, Al Jefferson should be able to land us a lottery pick.
Our only need currently, is for a clutch-player in late game situations. I am of the opinion that Hayward can fulfil that role.
So, should we make the playoffs? Personally, I don't think we really have a choice. What is more beneficial? Well, in the instance that we are shopping Al, I would assume that his trade value will shoot up, especially when other GMs look at his PER, ppg, rpg, apt, and improved passing- all while shedding the sigma of "never being able to take a team to the playoffs". On the other hand, if we miss, we could get the 14th pick AND trade for Al. Who knows what could get the bigger haul.
Personally, I like cheering for this team, as you all do. I hate having my team missing the playoffs, but I would also hate my team never having a chance for contention. Getting the 14th pick and missing the playoffs honestly seems like the more logical decision; however, you guys are making it as if this team will absolutely bust if we miss the playoffs. Uhh, not true. We have a PLETHORA of good trading chips, a serious amount of cap room coming up, and four seriously promising players. Personally, Im undecided regarding what is more beneficial, but all I know is that I have been rooting for this team to win every game this season, and that will not change at any point in time.
Oh, and PS: I'd chose San Antonio over OKC
Take care everyone. Hopefully we can win the next three. Playoff PUSH!!!!
