Would you rather....

[HermanG]

Now the poll is intentionally "black & white" since I'm sure most in here would pick some shade of grey if offered. However for the sake of this poll, I'm interested in knowing how many here value getting top of the lottery talent more than seeing concrete leaps from our current prospects. And for that purpose, I only put in the "extreme options".

To avoid confusion, the "leveling up" means at least one of them REALLY levels up and looks like he is going to be a starter+ caliber guy for the foreseeable future. And by "struggling" I mean none of them inspire high levels of confidence that they belong in the NBA (at this point in their careers).

Votes are set to not public, as this is not about tracking personal takes since the options are limited to the extremes.

 

[HermanG]

Also just another clarification: This is "pre-loterry" positioning. So not speculating on how the balls roll, but how we are positioned to have them roll our way.

May not surprise anyone but I always hope for concrete improvements rather than speculative ones, and thus seeing one or more of our current young guys level up would be my preference.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

IF Hendricks became such a force on defense that he makes John Collins lineups work, and is a good enough 3pt shooter that he has to be guarded at all time, then we might have some really good lineups.

 

[LogGrad98]

That's a no-brainer. Fall to bottom 3 obviously. Getting yet another 8-10 pick would be failure of the highest order. Having some of our 2nd round guys leveling up generally means playing like late 1st round picks instead. So a bunch of overachieving role players and a late lottery pick are the perfect fuel for treadmill mediocrity long-term. Unless they turn into assets we can bundle to move up or sign/trade for a star, it just means yet another year as an also-ran and another year of Lauri's prime in the toilet. It's about time we ****ing tank properly.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Easily level up. If you made it to where it was #1 then Id say the other option, but 2-3 might not be significantly better than 8-10 vs having all the young player.

Also you only said bottom 3 record which could still be picking 8th at the latest.

 

[oldtimer]

picking 8-10 in the draft in perpetuity is completely a jazz thing to do. the enemy of great is good. just be good enough to sell tickets and never reach for greatness. totally jazz.

 

[KqWIN]

Realistically, if we got an 8-10 finish it would take a major development from a current player/extraordinary rookie season. I find it hard to believe that we would land 8-10 without massive internal development. In other words, we would uncover a top 3 level pick guy. This idea that 8-10 comes with mediocrity doesn't make sense to me. If we're 8-10 it means we likely got "that dude" and I would take that over not having "that dude" and praying the lotto + draft gods play in our favor.

This isn't a large group of vets like the last two years. Half the team was on the summer league roster. The wins must come from young guys, that's a good thing.

 

[oldtimer]

the problem that i forsee is that i can conceive of a team right now that gets is to pick 8-10 without any rookie or soph improvement.
1. sexton point
2 clarkson sg (improved play from last year)
3 Lauri
4. john collins
5. kessler

sixth man that guy from Boston whose numbers surprised me.
seventh man key (slight improvement)

suddenly we are competing for the last playoff spot which we lose out on. no big improvement from our rookies. stuck in mans land. winning meaningless games.

everything i read tells me this 2025 draft is epic even historical. even a top 5 pick can help change a teams future. be bad. play the youngsters a lot of minutes. any body makes 3 shots in a row take a seat on the bench. lose and pray for loterry luck

 

[KqWIN]

If you think Kessler+Collins+Clarkson in the starting lineup is going to lead us to 8-10 that's all we need to know.

 

[HermanG]

Realistically, if we got an 8-10 finish it would take a major development from a current player/extraordinary rookie season. I find it hard to believe that we would land 8-10 without massive internal development. In other words, we would uncover a top 3 level pick guy. This idea that 8-10 comes with mediocrity doesn't make sense to me. If we're 8-10 it means we likely got "that dude" and I would take that over not having "that dude" and praying the lotto + draft gods play in our favor.

This isn't a large group of vets like the last two years. Half the team was on the summer league roster. The wins must come from young guys, that's a good thing.

Oh dear lord. Getting 6 wins over projection requires otherworldly development or "that guy"?

Key turning from negative to positive and Cody/Hendricks becoming a consistent contributor to fill the 3&D wing defender role would probably do it.

I get that acting like you got all the answers and killing threads you dont like with your shtick are your things, but let us peasants have our ignorant fun here.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Oh dear lord. Getting 6 wins over projection requires otherworldly development or "that guy"?

Key turning from negative to positive and Cody/Hendricks becoming a consistent contributor to fill the 3&D wing defender role would probably do it.

I get that acting like you got all the answers and killing threads you dont like with your shtick are your things, but let us peasants have our ignorant fun here.

But what if it's 6 wins over and they have a season per game point differential of like -2 vs losing 6 more games and it being more like -9?

 

[HermanG]

But what if it's 6 wins over and they have a season per game point differential of like -2 vs losing 6 more games and it being more like -9?

I dont actually know what projected point differentials are for 30 vs 36 wins, but I would buy a net -7 drop sure.