footawn
Well-Known Member
I’ll admit I got Lauri-cooper blindness
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Does Sexton Get Traded?
- Thread starter Saint Cy of JFC
- Start date
I think this whole "adding up our players to determine how much we win" is what everyone did in 2022-23 and 2023-24. Most in here have now twice underestimated the team which was a play-in team both of those years without the midseason trades.
Both years there were guys who performed better than most people initially expected (Lauri, Sexton and Kessler in 2022-23, Simone and Dunn in 2023-24), but the main reason we became a .500 team that outpaced some of the presumed contenders is that Hardy found working lineups/chemistry that maximized both of those teams.
Like what are we doing pretending that the same core group (Lauri, Kessler, Sexton, Clarkson) who is still here cant make us "too good" again? Everyone we have traded away over the past 2 season have been sidekicks and at best 4th/5th best guys on the roster.
I'm not saying its guaranteed that we will again be too good to tank, but I wouldnt give it incredibly low odds either.
Both years there were guys who performed better than most people initially expected (Lauri, Sexton and Kessler in 2022-23, Simone and Dunn in 2023-24), but the main reason we became a .500 team that outpaced some of the presumed contenders is that Hardy found working lineups/chemistry that maximized both of those teams.
Like what are we doing pretending that the same core group (Lauri, Kessler, Sexton, Clarkson) who is still here cant make us "too good" again? Everyone we have traded away over the past 2 season have been sidekicks and at best 4th/5th best guys on the roster.
I'm not saying its guaranteed that we will again be too good to tank, but I wouldnt give it incredibly low odds either.
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Yup, we will see if the FO learned from the Wemby year. They thought they would be bad enough that year too. You got to make some moves to assure it and not leave it up to chance. They should be more aware of that now knowing how good Lauri can be
Yeah I would definitely strip some parts if I really wanted to be in top 5 next year.
People forget that last season we had a horrible start with THT/Clarkson as the starting guard pair and with the "hunger games" distracting everyone they were turning the ball over left and right. If Hardy is coaching to win next year as he has been last 2 years, I presume the guard play will be much improved from Day 1 if we dont subtract from that.
We may not be able to have a stretch like we had in January, but we will almost certainly be better in October and November.
Also what happens if you have a soft schedule early?
Definitely something that should be taken into account. They usually release the full schedule around mid august, so at least we get to read and react if that happens.
Hedda Gambler
Well-Known Member
We probably still lose most of the games. We will have to run long stretches with 2-3 players on rookie deals will have to share the floor with you few proven guys. I have a hard time seeing a team that will have to play Hendricks, Sensabaugh, George, Williams and Collier serious minutes not being crushed by most other teams second units.
Sure, but Hardy has never just given rookies minutes early in the season. That's us expecting a thing that hasn't happened in two seasons under Hardy despite there being incentives to tank both seasons.
You have to force Hardys hand a bit and trade away one rotation player. Maybe it doesn't have to be Sexton, but Sexton is the most tradeable and the guy with the least amount of future team control.
How is that? Are you aggregating the young guys into being "consistently ineffective" or are you actually accounting for the fact that they are usually the exact opposite (= "inconsistently effective").
Lauri, Sexton, Kessler, Collins and Clarkson set the floor of this team to be at least better than 4 of the other teams (BKN, WAS, DET and POR). The youngsters are definitely gonna sink us in many games, but whenever they have one of them good games we are likely at least going to be competitive.
Also I certainly hope some of them have more good games than bad games coming up... dont you agree?
Jazz4ever
Well-Known Member
I think that's why the Jazz will probably hold onto him. His leadership/energy will be good for the young guys to witness.
The amount of vets on the roster is drastically different than in years past. You can’t tell me JCx2 matter without acknowledging the other vets we don’t have who got us to .500 level. Either these vets matter or they don’t, you can’t have it both ways.
If we do surprise, it will be different. It will come off the back of young players improving. It won’t come from having a wealth of depth and veterans as was the case in years past.
Thats fair but its also fair to say the vets we have were key guys in those two years and as many young guys as we have its likely one or more of them figures out ways to contribute.
And surprise is always the result of misestimating what you got. Despite having all those vets you or I or anyone else didnt see 2022-23 coming. So saying "but we had vets" now is just hindsight.
We still have Hardy, Lauri, Sexton, Clarkson and Kessler. I would say thats 5 of the top 6 contributors to our wins in the whole 2022-24 period.