03-25-2021, 10:10 AM
(03-25-2021, 08:19 AM)ItsGoTime Wrote: All this lipstick on a pig talk. It's yet another blemish that shouldn't be defended as hard as it is being defended.
Strong disagree here.
The big (HUGE) difference is that Carlisle had better options to which he could turn when Wright faltered. He was trying to have a good season and make the playoffs for the first time in awhile. They DID have a good year, and part of that was BECAUSE he benched this dude.
On the flip side, Casey tried like HELL to bench Wright, too. He was super far out of the rotation for about 1/3 of the season. About the time Hayes went down for the year, he got another chance and then eventually he emerged as one of the least objectionable choices available. In other words, at some point, Casey had no choice. From that point on, Wright did have a few good games, but it was nowhere near the renaissance some people here tried to paint after those good games. He was not consistently a good player this season.
I'm not trying to argue that Casey got the most out of him possible - I'm sure he did. I'm just saying that doing so was clearly not his preference, and judging by their record, not much in Detroit went according to plan at all.
I also won't push back against those that wish Dallas could've milked more out of their Wright trade than they did, now that we know what Detroit got for him. Still, they didn't ERASE his salary like Dallas did - those 2nds were incentive for Detroit to take back what they took back, I suppose. Still, kudos to them.
Just saying - I do NOT look back on last season and wish Carlisle would've made "show Wright in the best light possible" a priority. I'm super happy he put his focus (and that of the team) on winning, personally.