10-24-2023, 10:11 AM
This will all be interesting to look back on. I predicted 43 but I think I'm slowly getting slightly more optimistic now that roles are finally being defined slightly. We just live in a very reactionary sports take world and forget that two years ago Luke dragged this team to 52 wins and now we act like over 45 would be crazy. After the Kyrie trade we lost two games by double digit points and one was where Kyrie and Luka sat and another was the last game of the year we tanked. Kyrie/Luka lineups had a net rating of +4.2. I do think that the lightning rod of media that is Kyrie created headlines before any result actually happened and the truth may just be that so much of last year post trade was slightly fluke-y. I do think our win total was dragged down dramatically early season by injuries and terrible decisions around resting Luka when we didn't have to on early back to backs. I'm more intrigued by this team than any other in the Luka era and not because it looks like a contender or anything, but more because this is the first offseason we've had in ages that feels like an objective step forward both for the present and for the future so I'm interested to see how this new approach plays out.