12-15-2025, 08:51 AM
(12-15-2025, 07:33 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Nick at the Locked On Mav's podcast did a really nice job discussing this yesterday. His heart says the wins are fun and the players deserve a chance to go for it. His head says basically what you said...we need a premium pick.
There is some thought that Kyrie might get back before the calendar year end. That would give the team a month to evaluate this group of three stars. If the offers for AD aren't great, why not wait and see what you have (obviously they why not is because the longer this lasts the worse your pick gets). But, that was always going to be the conundrum of building back AD's value. On the other side of the coin, the why-not for letting him play and carrying this to the summer is he starts to accrue more power in looking for an extension.
BTW, in the same episode, Nick played a very insightful clip from Kidd responding to a question pre-game from Vince Carter. He talked about NBA games being won in the final 6 minutes...especially the final 3. The Flagg at PG experiment was about seeing what the kid could do so they could know how he'd respond to pressurized late game situations. The segment is worth listening to. Whether through Kidd's approach or not, it appears Flagg has the clutch gene. Kyrie is already famously one of the best fourth quarter players in history. Combine those two and if NBA games tend to come down to the final few minutes, we stand a chance to win a lot of games we might not expect to win.
It is a tricky spot to be for sure...especially with our future draft inventory. I would agree that 7th-8th in the west would be the worst spot longterm.
For the moment I want to enjoy basketball again and hopefully good play. I don't think the front office needs to believe this is anywhere near a contender...even when healthy. Maybe that changes with some development but that is a risky proposition. But don't just close the door and shut down the season. Maybe in February we can re-evaluate, but still I think Cooper getting rookie of the year is a big deal. I also think it is a big deal for AD not to be mocked every week if he is sitting out. I could say the same for other players too. With that being said AD is questionable tonight...so there is that
