That team didn't scrap. They weren't fun to watch. It was one bad era of basketball sitting on top of what looked like could be a better one. There was nothing exhilarating about how they played or where anything was going. There wasn't anything worth saving (except Millsap).
This team scraps. They're fun to watch. They seem to like each other and play for each other. They seem like they want to be here. And this is it. They need to blow it up or they need to double down, there's no lame-duckedness to it.
I'll give you that angle all day every day.
They could have built a scrappy team then too, but fans and the F.O. all wanted playoffs just like they want them now. Boozer jumped ship, Memo was a dead man walking, and D-Will had one foot out the door. What did fans beg for? Al Jefferson, Devin Harris + Earl Watson followed by Mo Williams, and a playoff berth. Then they begged for a tank. Then the tank sucked *** and this team is going to find itself in the ****ter, with an unhappy Rudy Gobert contract situation.