I agree we're way behind, but you have to admit: BOS ascended bc their GM made great deals (IT and Crowder). Phil said no to Crowder.
Without IT and Crowder, Al doesn't sign with them and without those 3 players.... BOS is a bottom feeder. All their drafts picks the last 7 years.... have produced very little.
PHi is going to be very good if Embid stays healthy. Simmons could be a decent player.... we shall see. Saric looks serviceable too. But I don't buy into what players do when team has nothing to play for.
I mean, to me, KP and WHG are about equal to Embid and Saric.
Now, we both have lottery picks... but they do have a few more pieces (Simmons).
MIL will be without Parker next year... brutal.
I'm not a big believer, personally,
In the OrL team. Something is missing. I think DEN is ahead of them.
Knicks are doomed mainly bc Dolan-Phil-HORn is so below what these they teams have.
I think KP, WHG, Lottery pick is a decent start.... but unless we hit HR this draft and we find out very own type IT/Crowder deals.... we will be competing for a few more lottery picks.
But, again, in the NBA.... its all about elite talent.... getting that transcendent player.... all of those teams we talk about are nice to good and on right track....
But the race is to see who drafts that next SUPER sTAR.
I mean, look.... NO has Cousins and Davis and could re-sign Holiday.... and even with them something is missing.
But, in my final analysis, I doubt NY is playing meaningful games in May-June for years to come.
But.... who knows.... maybe Monk falls in our lap and is a Thompson type guy? Or Trier another Hardin? I doubt it...
Heck, even OKC had Durant, Westbrook, and Hardin and accomplished nada.
Good call on Denver they have really good youth. WHG brother Juan can flat out shoot even he's a nice find for them. When looking at the league players who are 25 and younger we fall well short in comparison.
No GM in the league would take #kporzee/WHG over Embiid/Saric absolutely none, even with the health concerns and I'm giving us the edge there. The "putting up stats on a bad team argument" is weakened when the Knicks are among the worst teams in the league, so that would include our young kids production.
Saric is exceptionally skilled, he has shown more to his game this yr than our beloved unicorn and I'm being bipartisan here. He could regress next season if for nothing else having to adjust to the continual influx of youth but he's damn good no debating. Boston may have undefined talent at the same time they have 3 recently drafted players who are part of a rotation on a winning team, that in of itself speaks for something more than we can discredit. Boston will also have a pick no lower than 4 coming this summer, this too speaks to their favor
The Bucks have Gannis/Brogdan/Parker/Middleton/Maker there's no comparison here...I'd trade our whole team for Gannis straight up without blinking once, thinking twice. If we want to move the goal posts and say move the age down from 25, we still don't compare much.
The up and coming draft continues to show more names declaring, the deeper it will be. Teams drafting outside the lottery will land a good player(starter caliber if not better). Some teams have multiple picks in the 1st round like Portland(12, 20, 27) might as well put us behind them too. Orlando has picks 4 and 22 currently.
This is why I wanted Randle on the team to start the season because I feel he should be included but the proof isn't there yet