(02-07-2023, 12:47 AM)mvossman Wrote: Watching Green and Hardy tonight makes that trade look even more like an unnecessary panic move. There was an obvious need for some upgrades. We were starting 4 subpar defenders which will never work long term. Timmy needs to go and Dinwiddie needed to either move to his proper position as 6th man or go. But Green is clearly turning into that legit 2 way starter this team desperately needed, and Hardy is looking like he is going to be a high level 6th man in a season or two. They didn't really need a superstar, just one or two more quality starters that can play defense, and they were going to have the assets in the offseason to potentially get it.
Now the roster seems even more lopsided. I'm not sure you can put a top 10 defense on the floor with Luka/Kyrie/Wood. Its a shame and a little surprising to me that we can't get any value out of Wood in the open market. It will have to be Green and the best defensive big wing we can find, but I don't think it will be enough.
IMO if you can put someone next to Wood that can take care of the opposing teams big, he's passable defensively, because he is pretty decent at weak side help defense in the paint and is quick enough to not be completely terrible on switches and close outs, so you remove the matchup that exposes his biggest defensive weakness. Which is why the lineups with Wood and Kleber together were actually quite good.