Plus you could trade for another star
2023 NBA Draft Megathread
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And for all the ways that Luka is incredible, he’s a really, really bad on defense. Wemby at his floor will get every jumper he wants and crazy rim-deterrence.
And having Wemby on a rookie-scale deal means you can theoretically have him and another max player in addition (maybe even Luka if you plan it right).
fishonjazz
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I disagree. I think most teams would rather have durant, giannis, luka, steph, than royce oneal.
I also think that the number 1 pick in this draft wont be a 3 and D player. In fact i doubt any of the top 5 will be a 3 and D player.
Primary scorers are the most coveted asset in the league.
That actually applies less to the Luka argument than it does the Wemby argument because of the cap implications.
fishonjazz
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Giannis, tatum, KD, and Embiid have the ball in their hands a TON. kawhi doesn't play very much basketball. Of course you wouldn't want westbrick and trae but not becasue they have the ball alot, its because they aren't efficient with the ball.
Not really. We are in the perfect position to add two stars on max deals if we wanted to.
That is always the question and worry. Imagine if the cavs were offered Tracy McGrady for the #1 pick in 2003. How do you turn down a 23yr old superstar yet that obviously would have been a horrible trade in the long run.
Well, those are not mutually exclusive.
What separates Steph from others besides the shooting is that he doesn’t pound the air out of the ball. The best approach is to have crazy on-ball prowess but allow your team to run an actual offense. This is also what made every Chauncey Billups team so strangely good relative to their on-paper roster. Sharing the ball is more than just racking up assists.
The Mavericks were really good without Luka last year in the playoffs. They were better with him, but I honestly didn’t think they were a ton better with him. They didn’t just add him on top of what they were doing well, they dumped a lot of what was working well so he could dribble the air out of the ball. That’s a limitation on the ceiling of the team as much as anything else is.
Huh? Luka takes up much more cap than Wemby would, which means less room for more talent. Period.
jom2003
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I consider guys who can shoot 3s, play good D and don't need the ball in his hands a whole lot to impact the game as “3D wings”. Jaylen Brown, for example. KD, Kawhi and Tatum would also fit into that category. You can be both a star and 3D wing, not “either...or”.
And yes, 3D wings are the most coveted. You can win a chip without ball-hog like Harden or Westbrick. But you would 100% need 3D wings to win it.
I didn’t say that he didn’t. We have enough room to add Luka and another star. Full stop.
Bawse Dawg
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Those player do touch the ball a ton, but it is much more a part of the offense, and people move around and there is still a gameplan happening. Harden (In Houston) and Luka do the dribble the air out of the ball thing while teammates stand around. then shoot or pass to an open man. I definitely think there is a distinction, even if the usage rates are similar for all the players.
It's is also hard to flourish with that kind of offensive machine as a teammate. Look what Brunson did when he got some space from Luka to do his own thing. Who knows how Lauri would do, I think it's more complicated than "Offenses wouldn't be as focused on him so he would be amazing" He'd turn into Kevin Love on LeBron's Cavs.