I don’t think those moves were made specifically for Rudy, though. Clarkson was supposed to be a rental whose purposes were to be better than Exum and then expire. Conley is a guy that DL has targeted for years and for various reasons. Bojan was the guy that would sign. I honestly couldn’t tell you why Favors was signed besides abject laziness.These guys aren't "bad" for Don, but they aren't guys who support a Don led initiative.
Mike Conley
Ball dominant
Had zero history being a spot up shooter and took him over a year to really figure out that role
Not a good defender
Didn't let Don be the smallest guy on the court and worst defender
Jordan Clarkson
Simply a ball dominant scorer
Not really a spot up shooter but is okay there
If he existed to spell Don 12 minutes a game, fine. But his role, contract, everything requires him to play 24 mpg or more. He simply doesn't fit well next to Don.
Derrick Favors
We signed him to back up Rudy
We signed him to be Rudy light
I think the only guy on the team that was added due to Don Mitchell was Royce. He and Don were friends, and Don backed him to become a better NBA player. Without their friendship, would Royce have really been given a chance? Many wanted to dump him. If we had another Royce for Conley and another Royce for Clarkson and another Royce type for Favors, I argue we would be just as good for playoff basketball as with Clarkson, Favors and Conley.
Again, I don’t think these are moves that come at the expense of Mitchell, and I think the shortcomings are that the FO is lazy.
Speaking to this idea of how to build around a player like Donovan... the only things I am sure would qualify are providing spacing and being a similar age. They certainly ****ed up the latter, but it seems the former works for all parties. If we wanted to go further, having an all-time great defensive player and efficient player helps cushion Donovan’s two biggest weaknesses.