Alter Danny's drafting (2013-14). Would we win it all this year?

[MBunge]

Part of the issue with Randle on the Lakers is they don't have any centers who can cover for him defensively, so they're going to be better with Nance on the floor who doesn't need to have a mobile defensive big beside him nearly as much.

You really have to look at context when you cite on off numbers, it's not as simple as "so and so added / subtracted x points when he was on the floor."

Is the Lakers backup center some defensive genius?  That argument addresses why a player's stats might be misleading or why a player's stats aren't translating to wins.  But if a terrible team is markedly better without one of its supposed stars, it doesn't seem like that problem is fixed by adding more talent.  It may disguise it.  It doesn't eliminate it.

Mike

[PhoSita]

You didn't read what i posted, clearly.

[moiso]

Smart over Randle any day and on any team, regardless of what center is paired with them.

[bdm860]

Things like this just show how much of a crap shoot the draft is.

I feel like anybody can build a championship team with players taken #20 or later (because I feel like at that point, any pick is attainable for peanuts, while at #15-19 teams will still try to get some decent assets).

Pick any 12 of these guys and it's hard not to come up with a team that would compete for a championship in 2017 playing any style you want to play.

PG: Isaiah Thomas (#60), Reggie Jackson (#24), Patrick Beverley (#42), Rajon Rondo (#21), Kyle Lowry (#24), Goran Dragic (#45).

SG/SF: Jimmy Butler, (#30), Danny Green (#46), Lance Stephenson (#40), Khris Middleton (#39), Jae Crowder (#34)

PF: Draymond Green (#35), Kenneth Faried (#22), Taj Gibson (#26), Serge Ibaka (#24), Ryan Anderson (#21), Paul Millsap (#47)

C: Hassan Whiteside (#33), Deandre Jordan (#35), Nikola Jokić (#41), Rudy Gobert (#27), Marc Gasol (#48)

[MBunge]

You didn't read what i posted, clearly.

No, you don't understand your own argument.  Nance is an inferior scorer, rebounder and passer compared to Randle.  What ever they gain defensively when he's on the court, they lose in all those others areas.

The argument you are making fits with a young bench player on a good team, where you have to put his performance in context.  The team SHOULD be better with him off the court.

Randle is supposed to be one of the best players on a lousy team.  If that team is actually MORE lousy with him on the court, how do you just wave that away?

Mike

[tazzmaniac]

I'm not a big Smart fan and Randle could turn out to be the better player.  However Giannis and Randle would not be a good combination and Smart's defense would be more useful against the contenders.  Gary Harris would obviously be a no brainer over Young. 

However Giannis is really the only one that would matter.  If we had Giannis, we'd have a young star and be a contender not a pretender.  I think that would have changed Ainge's perspective.  At a minimum, I'd think he'd have at least made a smaller deal at the deadline but I think he'd have gone big.  He clearly didn't want to deal with Cousins but why not make a godfather offer (both Nets picks and Brown if necessary) for George or Butler.  IT, Bradley, Butler/George, Giannis, Horford would be a heck of a contender. 

[Big333223]

I mean, sure.

Take Giannis in 2013.

Jokic and Capela in 2014.

Norm Powell and montrezl Harrell in 2015.

Hield and Brogdon in 2016.


But I mean... Hindsight is 20/20.

The Smart/Randle conversation has been had to death, what's funny is that perks-a-beast would take Randle #6 instead of Jokic, the actual best player left in that draft. Or even Saric, who looks like he'll be better than both in a year or two.

I like Pho's draft, except I would still take Jaylen. I like his upside over Hield even though Hield has looked quite good in Sacramento.

[mctyson]

So if you had a time machine and a way to contact Danny Ainge to..

Draft Gianni's over Olynyk in 2013. Giannis taken 2 spots behind Olynyk

Draft Julius Randle over Smart in 2014. Randle taken 1 spot behind Smart

Draft Gary Harris over James Young in 2014. Harris taken 2 spots behind Olynyk.

Then leave all the trades/signings post rebuild the same..

That leaves us with a roster of...

PG - Isaiah Thomas - Terry Rozier
SG - Avery Bradley - Gary Harris
SF - G. Antetokounmpo - Jae Crowder
PF - Julius Randle - Amir Johnson
C - Al Horford - Tyler Zeller

Is that team good enough To win it all? If not this year, in the next 2-3?

I am inclined to say that team could go head to head with warriors or Cavs in a seven game series no problem.

While this post wasn't made to desparage Ainge (I know how much of a crap shoot the draft is), it is quite frustrating to look back and have these guys picked 1-2 slots behind us...

Fixed.

[wayupnorth]

Certainly give me Smart over Randle.

Smart plays like a seasoned vet, and Randle legitimately looks lost out there very frequently.