Isnt Richardson a shooting guard? THJ is not a small forward? DFS is not a power forward?
I keep seeing players on positions where they are clearly not fitting and underszed. I am aware of positionless basketball but there are things that do not fit well. We have seen DFS dominated in the paint by bigger players. Its a clear obvious observation we need to get bigger and stronger and tougher and have better rim protection. We need a player with size and athelticism on the SF.
On the SG position I believe we need a pure shooter.
I view the current roster as this:
Luka - Bunson - Burke
THJ - Richardson - Terry
DFS - Johnson - Green - (Bey G-league)
Maxi - Powell
KP - WCS - Bobi
Improvement/decline:
PG: We have improved, not significantly, but we did improve.
Getting Brunson back and with one more year of experience is clear advantage for the point guard position. Luka is only going to get better. Burke played really well in playoffs and was a surprise. This unit has improved with Brunsons return and Burkes emergence. Competition between Brunson and Burke will be great to monitor, this will be important part of the season and how far we go. The way Burke played, it is not clear that Brunson will be the leader of the bench unit. This competition is only good for both players development and chemistry with the rest of the team. I do believe Brunson is much more accomplished player and will emerge and play the best basketball of his career so far and be an important weapon for us to win games. Altogether, slight improvement at the PG position.
SG: We have improved, not significantly but we did improve, and for future even more.
THJ had a good year and is back. He can only be better with more time in this system and around the core, but his ceiling is limited. Issue with both Curry and THJ has been too little defense despite elite shooting and too little toughness. This issue has now been resolved brilliantly with this move. The team has added a better backup SG compared to Curry, in Richardson, at least a better fit for the team. His shooting is well enough and his defense and overall play and toughness is far better than what Curry added. Shooting open 3s, Richardson will keep the defenses honest and provide much more toughness and defense for the team. We have lost Wright but to be honest he didnt provide anything special, so i do not even consider this as a downgrade. Now, I view Terry as a pure shooting guard and not a point guard. He is simply a pure shooter. Luka needs to pair with a pure shooter here at SG and Terry is a fantastic fit. It's hard to expect a rookie to make a difference the first season. But I do believe Terry will make some contribution and will only get better in coming seasons. With time he replaces what Curry did and perhaps will be even better player with time. This season however, it is Richardsons job to be the backup SG while Terry will get minutes for the experience. I think with time as the season goes Terry will get more and more time off the bench as his shooting will be more and more evident that this kid can play. Terry has far higher ceiling than THJ or Richardson, and it might take years to achieve this. This coming season however, we have made overall slight improvement as Richardson brings things for this position we have been missing since Curry and THJ are too similar in their skills. Richardson in the rotation gives far more options for Carlise. If THJ is not a fit in games, he can give more minutes to Richardson and anchor the defense more. In games where THJ goes off, then Richardson will play less. Tactically and in terms of fit, we have improved at SG position, and Terry will have a few flashes in some games as well.
SF: We have improved a bit, and significantly improved the future.
DFS is starter here and the fit at the wing as that 3 & D player. Green will be far better player with time and should displace DFS, but its hard to expect this will occur this season. He is far more athletic than DFS and more upside defensively and offensively. Johnson is an upgrade this season over Jackson that played weak. Jackson, similar as Wright, didnt add anything special, and it is not considered a downgrade that he is leaving. The depth is far better in toughness and defense with Johnsons arrival. I consider this a slight improvement as Johnson and Green will add better depth than Jackson did. The future much more bright and I expect far better improvement in season 2. Bey is extremely raw and will likely play in G league. I do not expect much of this pick but i do hope im wrong, and I do think he can develop to be a star player, as he has athletic tools available for this. With a second round pick, this is not a bad to take a high risk high reward chance at something as that. Overall slight improvement on the SF position, especially depth.
PF: Status quo, or declined a bit.
We have same players here. Powell comes off from a major injury and might not be the same player. He is very reliant on his athletic ability and not on skills. If he has lost a step, he is useless as player. This positions is a major concern and we do need a player like Millsap here, a better quality starter. Overall slight decline on the PF position.
C: Status quo or declined a bit potentially.
We have same player here but KP is injured and we do not know how he will come back and whether he will be the same player. Overall most likely a status quo on the C position.
Overall we have made slight improvements on the PG-SG-SF positions. And the especially going into season 2 etc. from now on as I do believe in Green and Terry picks. However as pointed out by others, we did not make huge improvements in these positions. There is not a second elite playmaker for the next season. We are slightly better, and this is a good thing.
However, the PF and C is a major concern and this has not been adressed. We absolutely need to resolve this as we cant handle a decline in this area. The focus was obviously on the SG and SF in the draft and trades, and this is great. We need Millsap at Pf here IMO. And even with Millsap another big as depth perhaps as well. Moving Powell might be possibility.
Overall, I think we are slightly better team to last season. But we need one or two more moves that ensures improvement in every position. And all together combined these slight improvements will mean a significant improvement and perhaps enables us to contend right now.
I keep seeing players on positions where they are clearly not fitting and underszed. I am aware of positionless basketball but there are things that do not fit well. We have seen DFS dominated in the paint by bigger players. Its a clear obvious observation we need to get bigger and stronger and tougher and have better rim protection. We need a player with size and athelticism on the SF.
On the SG position I believe we need a pure shooter.
I view the current roster as this:
Luka - Bunson - Burke
THJ - Richardson - Terry
DFS - Johnson - Green - (Bey G-league)
Maxi - Powell
KP - WCS - Bobi
Improvement/decline:
PG: We have improved, not significantly, but we did improve.
Getting Brunson back and with one more year of experience is clear advantage for the point guard position. Luka is only going to get better. Burke played really well in playoffs and was a surprise. This unit has improved with Brunsons return and Burkes emergence. Competition between Brunson and Burke will be great to monitor, this will be important part of the season and how far we go. The way Burke played, it is not clear that Brunson will be the leader of the bench unit. This competition is only good for both players development and chemistry with the rest of the team. I do believe Brunson is much more accomplished player and will emerge and play the best basketball of his career so far and be an important weapon for us to win games. Altogether, slight improvement at the PG position.
SG: We have improved, not significantly but we did improve, and for future even more.
THJ had a good year and is back. He can only be better with more time in this system and around the core, but his ceiling is limited. Issue with both Curry and THJ has been too little defense despite elite shooting and too little toughness. This issue has now been resolved brilliantly with this move. The team has added a better backup SG compared to Curry, in Richardson, at least a better fit for the team. His shooting is well enough and his defense and overall play and toughness is far better than what Curry added. Shooting open 3s, Richardson will keep the defenses honest and provide much more toughness and defense for the team. We have lost Wright but to be honest he didnt provide anything special, so i do not even consider this as a downgrade. Now, I view Terry as a pure shooting guard and not a point guard. He is simply a pure shooter. Luka needs to pair with a pure shooter here at SG and Terry is a fantastic fit. It's hard to expect a rookie to make a difference the first season. But I do believe Terry will make some contribution and will only get better in coming seasons. With time he replaces what Curry did and perhaps will be even better player with time. This season however, it is Richardsons job to be the backup SG while Terry will get minutes for the experience. I think with time as the season goes Terry will get more and more time off the bench as his shooting will be more and more evident that this kid can play. Terry has far higher ceiling than THJ or Richardson, and it might take years to achieve this. This coming season however, we have made overall slight improvement as Richardson brings things for this position we have been missing since Curry and THJ are too similar in their skills. Richardson in the rotation gives far more options for Carlise. If THJ is not a fit in games, he can give more minutes to Richardson and anchor the defense more. In games where THJ goes off, then Richardson will play less. Tactically and in terms of fit, we have improved at SG position, and Terry will have a few flashes in some games as well.
SF: We have improved a bit, and significantly improved the future.
DFS is starter here and the fit at the wing as that 3 & D player. Green will be far better player with time and should displace DFS, but its hard to expect this will occur this season. He is far more athletic than DFS and more upside defensively and offensively. Johnson is an upgrade this season over Jackson that played weak. Jackson, similar as Wright, didnt add anything special, and it is not considered a downgrade that he is leaving. The depth is far better in toughness and defense with Johnsons arrival. I consider this a slight improvement as Johnson and Green will add better depth than Jackson did. The future much more bright and I expect far better improvement in season 2. Bey is extremely raw and will likely play in G league. I do not expect much of this pick but i do hope im wrong, and I do think he can develop to be a star player, as he has athletic tools available for this. With a second round pick, this is not a bad to take a high risk high reward chance at something as that. Overall slight improvement on the SF position, especially depth.
PF: Status quo, or declined a bit.
We have same players here. Powell comes off from a major injury and might not be the same player. He is very reliant on his athletic ability and not on skills. If he has lost a step, he is useless as player. This positions is a major concern and we do need a player like Millsap here, a better quality starter. Overall slight decline on the PF position.
C: Status quo or declined a bit potentially.
We have same player here but KP is injured and we do not know how he will come back and whether he will be the same player. Overall most likely a status quo on the C position.
Overall we have made slight improvements on the PG-SG-SF positions. And the especially going into season 2 etc. from now on as I do believe in Green and Terry picks. However as pointed out by others, we did not make huge improvements in these positions. There is not a second elite playmaker for the next season. We are slightly better, and this is a good thing.
However, the PF and C is a major concern and this has not been adressed. We absolutely need to resolve this as we cant handle a decline in this area. The focus was obviously on the SG and SF in the draft and trades, and this is great. We need Millsap at Pf here IMO. And even with Millsap another big as depth perhaps as well. Moving Powell might be possibility.
Overall, I think we are slightly better team to last season. But we need one or two more moves that ensures improvement in every position. And all together combined these slight improvements will mean a significant improvement and perhaps enables us to contend right now.