08-26-2025, 01:05 AM
(08-26-2025, 12:20 AM)Knutsen Wrote: So we do need some real internal development to get back to championship level talent - that is Cooper Flagg has to get better each and every month, but also Lively has to stay healthy and start expanding his offensive game while learning how to be even more dominant defensively from - and together with - AD. Max Christie has to develop into a very good two way guard by learning a lot from Klay and Kyrie.
Then there’s the chance that we trade two or three of our good players for a really good one, that fits better next to Flagg, AD and Kyrie - for example Gafford and Washington for a very strong shooting guard, without having a specific guy in mind right now.
It will be a fascinating season, even if I‘m not sure it will be a really successful one. Maybe next year will be our best shot with this team, we‘ll see.
That's an analysis I think is a good plan, but I think there are some details that could be hard to navigate.
The first is finding the "very strong shooting guard" that really fits and gives you as much or more as you are sending away. That's a LOT of value to offer, on very reasonable contracts, tied up for years. So you'd want a guy who plays strong D, who can shoot 3's well, and who is hopefully in a similar age range as Gaff/PJW. But you also have a money issue, as you want a guy whose money is no more than that pair, and preferably a bit less. Does that guy even exist?
The second is that you're riding with the health of AD for the long term. IF he can be healthy, no problem, but if he keeps getting dinged all the time, what do you do? All your depth is gone. While (when healthy) AD is clearly the best they have, because he's an impact player on both ends of the court, it's really risky to put all your eggs in THAT basket as your key player.
That's a hard idea to figure out how to navigate, because Nico. And it's fair to admit AD is their best talent, if he is playing, so you sure don't want to move off of him without being overwhelmed by an offer. While more should have been included, it's not unrealistic to recognize he was THE main piece that landed Luka Doncic for LA, and he's likely to still have very considerable trade value for some ongoing period. (The big question to me would be figuring out, if AD was the player being moved, what player or sort of player, or package, you would be looking for in return.)