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What steps do we take to become a contender?

Catchall said:
I have a hard time seeing Okafor, Russell, Mudiay or Towns falling outside the top 4.

If the Jazz don't get lucky, they're looking at Porzingis, Hezonja, Looney, Johnson and Oubre. All of these guys have length and can shoot the ball, so that's good.

The sleeper in all this is Myles Turner whose physical awkwardness might be attributable to a big growth spurt.
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Porzingis, Hezonja and Johnson all have All Stars potential IMO. It's a good draft to be 5-7.
 
I don't follow college ball much, and I usually don't start following the players until the end of the season. How does this draft class stack up to last years (which was supposed to be the best in a long time). From last years, in my opinion, I really only see Wiggins as a clear cut star. Parker and Embid maybe, and Exum has an outside chance if he takes significant strides in getting better.
 
*Trade Burke
*Sign a vet pg who can mentor Exum and play 16 backup minutes per game without bitching and still start if Exum gets hurt or really, really struggles in spots. Maybe Jameer Nelson as he can spread the floor in this offense. Not sure how solid of a mentor he'd be as he was never a strong true pg though.
*Sign Middleton or Matthews.
*Use our assets to move up for Russell.
*Draft a long center in the 2nd round--think Dakari Johnson--solid upside.

Exum-Nelson
Russell-Burks
Hayward-Middleton
Favors-Booker
Gobert-Johnson
 
I think we're in a good spot here - either we struggle to replace Kanter's volume scoring and Rudy isn't quite ready for thirty minutes a game and we slip a little, with a good chance to move into the top 3, OR we play really well and are able to sell to a good vet that adding him could be the missing link in being a good team.

Seems like a win win to me.
 
Matthews or Middleton.

Matthews is sharing free agency with LA and Lopez. That's 1 max, and 2 almost max players. Portland will have a difficult time holding on to all 3. They just traded for Afflalo, and admitted it was to make LA happy. They need as much out of each contract since they're over the cap this season. Afflalo saves POR 8 million or so if Matthews leaves in FA, which helps you secure your starting frontline of LA and Lopez and prepare the MAX for Lillard the following season. Unless he really likes it there, which wouldn't surprise me, and he takes a smaller deal to stay, Matthews is obtainable. Bring him home.

Middleton

I see Middleton more difficult to pry from MIL than Matthews from POR. While MIL's direction is kind of a head scratcher, I think Middleton is part of their weird plans moving forward. They're under the cap this season but with one $2M coming off the books. A big offer might snag him but MIL matching is always a possibility. They still have a few seasons to evaluate their young talent, but they have a **** ton of guards and they desperately need a big man, I think.....**** it.

I like both players and I think they can be had at the right price. A possible overpay, but solid shooting at the wing and from all accounts better defenders than Joe Ingles. No offense Joe.

Personally, I'd go after Matthews.
 
ONE LOVE said:
I think we need ONE FINAL TANK and go get either D'Angelo Russell or Emmanuel Mudiay.



Once we've got one of those legit talents, we can start using our cap space on a legit FA and pushing for the playoffs.
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I think tanking is what you do when you don't know what to do. When your in sports of any kind, you focus on developing to win. Losing is never something that never should be practiced even if its something that goes on but not talked about. It destroys morale, confidence and development. You don't tank, draft a player and then look at the guys in the locker room (who have been losing games for a year or more) and convince them it's time to go to work and the time is now. If that's your strategy, good luck. Anyone that is ok with losing should get out of the business.
 
Lakers_Slapper said:
I think tanking is what you do when you don't know what to do. When your in sports of any kind, you focus on developing to win. Losing is never something that never should be practiced even if its something that goes on but not talked about. It destroys morale, confidence and development. You don't tank, draft a player and then look at the guys in the locker room (who have been losing games for a year or more) and convince them it's time to go to work and the time is now. If that's your strategy, good luck. Anyone that is ok with losing should get out of the business.
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GSW strategically tanked hard 1 year to get our pick that turned into Harrison Barnes.


They pushed the 'play' button the next season and hasn't looked back since.
 
QuinSnydersHair said:
*Trade Burke
*Sign a vet pg who can mentor Exum and play 16 backup minutes per game without bitching and still start if Exum gets hurt or really, really struggles in spots. Maybe Jameer Nelson as he can spread the floor in this offense. Not sure how solid of a mentor he'd be as he was never a strong true pg though.
*Sign Middleton or Matthews.
*Use our assets to move up for Russell.
*Draft a long center in the 2nd round--think Dakari Johnson--solid upside.

Exum-Nelson
Russell-Burks
Hayward-Middleton
Favors-Booker
Gobert-Johnson
Click to expand...

Ok, but easier said than done?
 
ONE LOVE said:
GSW strategically tanked hard 1 year to get our pick that turned into Harrison Barnes.


They pushed the 'play' button the next season and hasn't looked back since.
Click to expand...
This
They lost games intentionally on and off the court
 
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