Kamm, I think it was incredibly disingenuous that when I said Skin said X, and you knew exactly what I was talking about and why, you used your selected-words-"quote" instead to try to shoot down what I was saying. You can't say it's an exact quote, when it's not, and it be honest. You only provided some of the words, chosen selectively.
...They had a second plan in which if they lose Jalen, we've got an alternate plan. Now that may have been muddied by the Kevin Durant news, but they wanted to get assets for Jalen Brunson. They didn't want to pay him more than 22. They knew that they were probably going to lose him. And it sucks. It sucks to lose an asset."
You can keep asserting that the full quote, and the partial quote that you want to use, says the same thing. But when I read it all, I don't think it does.
IMO the use of past tense is an indication that it WAS their plan, but it didn't work (for the reasons that he provided, and I have been mentioning). Notice how he describes said plan -- it was a plan to "get assets for Jalen Brunson." That ship has sailed, unfortunately. At this point, there is no way at all to get assets for Jalen Brunson. That plan is over.
Skin even acknowledges that it was over in his statement -- "It sucks to lose an asset."
Why did Skin say at first they HAVE a plan, and then later shift to "had"? I think the initial words were mostly a slip of the lip, or maybe a slight fudging of the truth, after which he thought better of misconstruing the situation and worded it deliberately as being in the past.
I don't disagree they HAD a backup plan on July 1, and in fact for quite a few days thereafter. But I think by the time of this conversation, it had failed already, and I think Skin's use of past tense was his subtle admission to that. I think Nico's comments appear to reveal the same thinking -- ie, we are LOOKING for something good, and hope we find something we like, but who knows.
One note that is more in line with your pov. It's interesting that Tim Cato seems to surmise (just from reading the situation, and not from any actual knowledge), that they must have some sort of trade ahead before the season. He doesn't think this roster can possibly be complete as is. But his guesswork has them primarily looking for an offense creator, not a wing. And like others have already noted, he sees THJ/Powell (one or both) as likely pieces that would be used.
We'll see what happens.
...They had a second plan in which if they lose Jalen, we've got an alternate plan. Now that may have been muddied by the Kevin Durant news, but they wanted to get assets for Jalen Brunson. They didn't want to pay him more than 22. They knew that they were probably going to lose him. And it sucks. It sucks to lose an asset."
You can keep asserting that the full quote, and the partial quote that you want to use, says the same thing. But when I read it all, I don't think it does.
IMO the use of past tense is an indication that it WAS their plan, but it didn't work (for the reasons that he provided, and I have been mentioning). Notice how he describes said plan -- it was a plan to "get assets for Jalen Brunson." That ship has sailed, unfortunately. At this point, there is no way at all to get assets for Jalen Brunson. That plan is over.
Skin even acknowledges that it was over in his statement -- "It sucks to lose an asset."
Why did Skin say at first they HAVE a plan, and then later shift to "had"? I think the initial words were mostly a slip of the lip, or maybe a slight fudging of the truth, after which he thought better of misconstruing the situation and worded it deliberately as being in the past.
I don't disagree they HAD a backup plan on July 1, and in fact for quite a few days thereafter. But I think by the time of this conversation, it had failed already, and I think Skin's use of past tense was his subtle admission to that. I think Nico's comments appear to reveal the same thinking -- ie, we are LOOKING for something good, and hope we find something we like, but who knows.
One note that is more in line with your pov. It's interesting that Tim Cato seems to surmise (just from reading the situation, and not from any actual knowledge), that they must have some sort of trade ahead before the season. He doesn't think this roster can possibly be complete as is. But his guesswork has them primarily looking for an offense creator, not a wing. And like others have already noted, he sees THJ/Powell (one or both) as likely pieces that would be used.
We'll see what happens.