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@Elizah Huge . People still running with this development angle.
Remember, our greates off-season acquisition is player development. Literally every championship team attributes their entire success to developing mid-tier players into superstars. I mean, picking a generational player in say, the top 6, never gets you there. It is all about development. Nothing else. It isn't about bringing in big-name free agents, just development. You heard it from every winner in the past 50 years. They never said "Magic Johnson carried us to this title by playing literally every position on the court", they say "Byron Scott was the deciding factor for us" because he developed.
/sarcasm
Yes player development plays a role, you need those solid role players AROUND the stars that really make the difference. Yes yes, very very rarely you get the diamond in the rough that literally can carry a championship team (Curry, Giannis, Jokic, etc.). But the VAST majority of the time these teams have top 3 picks and generational players at the helm who literally can put a team on their back and will themselves to a championship, and the VAST majority of the time they either drafted said player or brought them in via free agency or trade.
Now, being the mecca of nightlife and player fun zones, you know all of the top players want to play in Utah. Oh wait, they just handed me this.......actually NO ONE wants to play in Utah. Ok Rudy did. Uh. Stockton and Malone did, but of course we drafted them. So yeah, we are not a premier destination. So that route is ruled out, or at least far less likely to get us the players we need.
So we are left with what? Well if you do that math, and you have 2 things you can do and 1 of them is shown to be highly ineffective, then that leaves.......carry the 3......divide by i.........negative square root. Uh, ONE, exactly ONE route to land that player, and that is....***drumroll***...get lucky in the draft! So do we win more to make sure casual fans spend their money at the stadium watching a tight game between us and the Wizards! Ooooohhhh, such drama!! Or do we make sure we do not lose out on those lottery tickets to give ourselves the best chance at those players that can turn our fortune around?
I vote for the latter.