Brown Notes
Well-Known Member
Thought this was a pretty good read, and cast some new light on Utah's own crowded PF situation.
On Team Building, and Why the Cavs Needed to Trade J.J. Hickson
Published: Thursday, July 07, 2011, 9:00 AM Updated: Thursday, July 07, 2011, 9:16 AM
By Michael Curry
Okay, now comes the part where I disagree with most of what I wrote in this article on Friday. Well, not really. But while I still believe that the Cavs failed to maximize the value of J.J. Hickson in the trade for Omri Casspi, I also believe that the trade accomplished some fundamental roster-building elements. Today, we'll talk about how Hickson was a tough fit for any roster going forward, and in a separate post we'll talk about how Casspi and #4 pick Tristan Thompson may be a better fit on the roster going forward.
Point 1: Team-building is important.
There are hundreds of really talented basketball players on the planet. If all you had to do was collect twelve guys with more talent than any other group of twelve guys on the planet, being an NBA GM would be easy. But you can't just throw a bunch of talented guys together and hope that they can play as a team; the players need roles and responsibilities that guide them to winning basketball. That is what team-building is all about.
Owner Dan Gilbert and Cavs GM Chris Grant have said that they are committed to building a Championship-contending team "the right way" in the Cleveland. To do that, Grant must focus on building a team that balances the strengths and weaknesses of good players, a team that is is greater than the sum of its parts. And that's where things get tricky.
Building around superstars like LeBron James is inherently easier - these players have multiple strengths and few weaknesses. They help cover up weaknesses in other players, which gives you more flexibility in building the roster around them. Given how difficult it can be to acquire the types of players you want, building around a superstar is the most straightforward way to constructing on competent roster.
Unfortunately, Chris Grant does not find himself in that position. As good as I think that Kyrie Irving is going to be (please, God, let him have real point guard instincts), the Cavs are not going to be able to build around a super-duper star for the foreseeable future unless they fall into another lucky lottery selection. With that in mind, the Cavs must construct a lineup that is more balanced than the lineups they have been using over the past several years.
The team doesn't need to be built immediately. There is time for Irving and the rest of the team to grow together, and during that stretch the Cavs can collect players and assets, learning about which players can complement their core and which players are best used as trade pieces. But ultimately, Grant and his people will need to build a team of players who complement one another. And as we'll see, there are reasons to believe that building that team was going to be more difficult as long as J.J. Hickson was part of the core going forward.
https://blog.cleveland.com/cavshq/2011/07/on_team_building_and_why_the_c.html
On Team Building, and Why the Cavs Needed to Trade J.J. Hickson
Published: Thursday, July 07, 2011, 9:00 AM Updated: Thursday, July 07, 2011, 9:16 AM
By Michael Curry
Okay, now comes the part where I disagree with most of what I wrote in this article on Friday. Well, not really. But while I still believe that the Cavs failed to maximize the value of J.J. Hickson in the trade for Omri Casspi, I also believe that the trade accomplished some fundamental roster-building elements. Today, we'll talk about how Hickson was a tough fit for any roster going forward, and in a separate post we'll talk about how Casspi and #4 pick Tristan Thompson may be a better fit on the roster going forward.
Point 1: Team-building is important.
There are hundreds of really talented basketball players on the planet. If all you had to do was collect twelve guys with more talent than any other group of twelve guys on the planet, being an NBA GM would be easy. But you can't just throw a bunch of talented guys together and hope that they can play as a team; the players need roles and responsibilities that guide them to winning basketball. That is what team-building is all about.
Owner Dan Gilbert and Cavs GM Chris Grant have said that they are committed to building a Championship-contending team "the right way" in the Cleveland. To do that, Grant must focus on building a team that balances the strengths and weaknesses of good players, a team that is is greater than the sum of its parts. And that's where things get tricky.
Building around superstars like LeBron James is inherently easier - these players have multiple strengths and few weaknesses. They help cover up weaknesses in other players, which gives you more flexibility in building the roster around them. Given how difficult it can be to acquire the types of players you want, building around a superstar is the most straightforward way to constructing on competent roster.
Unfortunately, Chris Grant does not find himself in that position. As good as I think that Kyrie Irving is going to be (please, God, let him have real point guard instincts), the Cavs are not going to be able to build around a super-duper star for the foreseeable future unless they fall into another lucky lottery selection. With that in mind, the Cavs must construct a lineup that is more balanced than the lineups they have been using over the past several years.
The team doesn't need to be built immediately. There is time for Irving and the rest of the team to grow together, and during that stretch the Cavs can collect players and assets, learning about which players can complement their core and which players are best used as trade pieces. But ultimately, Grant and his people will need to build a team of players who complement one another. And as we'll see, there are reasons to believe that building that team was going to be more difficult as long as J.J. Hickson was part of the core going forward.
https://blog.cleveland.com/cavshq/2011/07/on_team_building_and_why_the_c.html
