Which direction do you want the team to go the rest of the season?

[fishonjazz]

Do we actually have the assets to catch up to the griz, thunder and pelicans though? I don't think we do if our own draft picks are in the 15-22 range. The young talent gap is already massive between us and those 3 teams. The thunder upside is downright scary when you take into account the future picks they have in the pipeline.

I think so. We have a staggering amount of assets. A couple are bound to hit. Then you have trades and free agency ran by possibly the best GM in the league. We good bro.

 

[LogGrad98]

I think so. We have a staggering amount of assets. A couple are bound to hit. Then you have trades and free agency ran by possibly the best GM in the league. We good bro.

This. I like our chances. Maybe the most hopeful I have been of truly competing at some point than I have been since the Stockton/Malone days.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

The challenge here is we have to not only replace the aging guys or guys that won't be here, but get a significant upgrade in talent.

The second part of this challenge is it would be much easier to do if we got lucky in the lotto... but the time to tank was in the offseason. We didn't cut deep enough... I said it then and it turns out to be more true because Lauri and Walker are both growing at a bonkers rate. We'd have to be lucky enough to find a good value trade for Beasley/Vando that returned only picks and not good players... then we'd likely have to do a dubious trade where we sell low on Mike and KO that is an obvious tank trade... because I just don't see those guys having a ton of "first round pick" type value. Even then I am not sure we get where we need to without some nefarious injury management.

Another dance we are doing here is if we drop out it opens up an opportunity for Minny. We can't shut the door on them completely but if we make the actual playoffs by winning the play in... it is like 50% more likely they missed the playoffs... okay the maths there is weird and its not a strict either/or scenario.

This isn't ideal... its not what I would have done... but I'm just accepting it as reality.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I think so. We have a staggering amount of assets. A couple are bound to hit. Then you have trades and free agency ran by possibly the best GM in the league. We good bro.

I think the big challenge is we have to hit on one of this year's picks to get the timing right. We currently have no picks in next year's draft... 2025 we have three but if we are still a play in type team you start to wonder if Lauri is getting impatient and he will have a huge boost in his salary... it just gets so hard.

I think they is a chance we hit on this year's picks... but I'd be looking to increase those odds where we could.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

You said we would miss him. We haven't thats all. Again, its ok to say "I was wrong about how much we would miss KO. We have actually been very good without him"
Not that big of a deal.

Nah, we have missed him. He adds so much to the team. I don't play by your simple minded white/black thought process

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Bruh... really... you seen Ty Haliburton or SGA... What about Desmond Bane, Walker Kessler, Franz Wagner, Tyrese Maxey, Tyler Herro... also guys like Trey Murphy and Herb Jones would like a word.

It can happen... it isn't likely but its not some extreme outlier... with as many picks as we have and the ability we will have to move up in drafts we should be able to get the job done.

Unless you're drafting super raw, most rookies who end up being game changing good are contributing by their 2nd or 3rd year, which is definitely within the Lauri timeline.

But if we are waiting on the 2025 Wolves/Cavs picks to be those high talents, it's not as ideal. We need that high talent wing now.

 

[LogGrad98]

We really need to hit in this upcoming off-season, somehow. Either through draft or trade. But we need to start adding the win-now pieces sooner rather than later to take advantage of the timeline we have with Lauri/Kessler and maybe even Clarkson. Waiting until 2025 derails a lot of that. I imagine if we do not end up where they want in the draft we will put together some trade packages for proven players, or to substantially move up, and not rest on our laurels and just hope a mid-20's guy pans out. DA is too shrewd and too cutthroat to settle like that.

 

[Korisfani]

Most of those trades seem to be made before the draft, though, when teams didn't know where they would pick. Of the lottery picks traded on draft day or just after, quite a few of them were for other lottery picks (De'Andre Hunter for Jaxson Hayes and NAW in 2019, for example). Ochai was 14th in '22.

Yeah, but most teams have an idea about what the range probably will be. Unless it's 2029 picks (total crapshoot then), but most picks are traded only a year or two out. At that point the teams have at least some idea if the picks they're trading are gonna be in the lottery, mid-draft or high 20s.

 

[David Hume]

The ideal scenario is seeing the Jazz win the title this year and Minnesota sucking so bad that they deliver us Wemby. Gotta root for something.

 

[fishonjazz]

Nah, we have missed him. He adds so much to the team. I don't play by your simple minded white/black thought process

You means wins and losses?
Its ok man. I can see you are hurting right now. You will bounce back bro. Its gonna be ok.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

No I didn't. As I said, over the long term pretty much half of those picks are traded. Some years might be 2/7, others it's been 5/7. On average: half.

Is there a difference in getting a contributor 11 vs. 20? Of course. But it's not very big. The "sure things", Scoots and Wembys, are long gone any way.

You might hit on a Don, Bam, SGA in that mid-range. Probably not. And you might miss on a top4 pick.

It can be a huge difference. I believe Boston was trying to throw like 4 first round picks to move up 4 spots one year... and the Hornets resisted.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

The ideal scenario is seeing the Jazz win the title this year and Minnesota sucking so bad that they deliver us Wemby. Gotta root for something.

Finally, a really rational solution.