this team needs to pick a freaking direction. because what we're doing right now is worse than tanking.
at least if we were tanking we would have something to show for it. a high pick. but this game we're playing could land us just out of the playoffs - the worse spot to be in.
sure there's generally good players available throughout the 1st rnd. but if we're going to be "just ok" and get an "ok" pick out of it? why not go all out and optimize you're chance at getting a "great" pick?
Agreed 100 percent!
Right now, I have no clue what direction we're headed in either.
Not bad enough to be in the top 3 of the draft and not good enough to be in the playoffs
So......what's up??
All of this "pick a direction" stuff is reminding me of '05-'07. Personally I never understood the idea of caring to pick an absolute direction. I preferred what DA did back then, and he is doing it again. This time his pool of young talent is collectively better even if we don't have a singular young talent as good as Al Jefferson right now. Combined with the potential of the Brooklyn picks, and Ainge really doesn't have to pick a direction by throwing Rondo away or making short-sighted moves like adding Asik and nothing else to make a playoff run. Both directions will most likely have us stuck in mediocrity for years because it breeds a culture of losing.
If there are no good/reasonable deals out there to improve this team in the short term and long term, DA won't make the deal. He doesn't care about purely sticking to the extremities of purely tanking. That much is clear from his tenure here.
Also. There is a reason our 06-07 and 13-14 teams didn't fall apart due to chemistry issues like most teams at the bottom of the barrel. It's the culture the front office brings down to the court. We may have sucked in those two years, but the players didn't have a losing mentality. Very important for young players, imo, and I'd rather have that then see the team tank.
Also, if the young players develop on this roster, we are actually good enough to make the playoffs. If Rondo comes in like pre-injury Rondo. Bradley comes back with his all-defensive standards. Smart contends for ROY. Sullinger becomes a consistent 15/10 low-post option with better efficiency than last year. Zeller plays solid positional defense for 20-25 MPG. Olynyk continues his 12/7 production from the post-all star break. Turner is a decent 6th man. Well there you go. There's your direction because that team most likely makes the playoffs because of the development of the young players. Will it happen? No one can say. That's what you get when you pin your hopes on young players who may or may not develop, which would be the case even if we had a top 3 pick on this roster. I have no issue with it, but it's a direction.
Basically the direction is "asset collection mode while maintaining a good culture". It's pretty clear they'll try to win this year, and if they are at the bottom by the deadline, we'll probably finally see real offers for Rondo. I think the front office is giving them a shot this year to see if they can push for the playoffs. The team is much, much, muuuch better balanced than last season.
Dark I think you and I may have had this conversation elsewhere but in general, I agree you about "picking a direction" not being essential here but I do believe whether he wants to or not, Danny is going to eventually reach a fork in the road where he will have to choose eventually. And that point is coming next year. You can't rationalize re-signing Rondo to a near max deal without having a plan to bring more talent in. Problem is, looking out at the horizon, the free agent market looks underwhelming except for a few big men that are likely to stay where they are. There's always the possibility to make trades but other than maybe medium-level moves I don't see where any one is going to be trading KLove-level talent again anytime soon. So if we want upper-echelon talent, that really leaves only one other place: the draft.
I love Rondo but to me this is just the reality of the situation. Given how the cap is going to keep going up, more and more teams are gonna have the money to keep their top guys. I think there will be fewer big name trades. And as Rondo said yesterday, he's not stupid. He can see this team is not a title contender. Guess what? It won't be one next year either. Maybe even the year after that. I'm not sure why Rondo would even want to stay on a team that is still growing and learning to compete when there are teams out there that he could go to that he could take to the next level if he joins them. If Rondo wants to be in the playoffs and compete for titles as much as he says he does, I can't imagine why we would be his first choice right now.