Thread shows just how short-term in their thinking some fans are.
We have a guy emerging as an all-nba wing in an era where the perimeter game is king, and some want to trade him for a guy who can't stay on the floor consistently, has been hampered by injuries his entire career. With all respect to PP, Tatum is on a track to be the greatest Celtic since Larry Bird. The way he's improving, IMO, it won't even be arguable in a year or two.
Philly has nothing on their roster that I'd trade Tatum for. Ainge won't trade Tatum, and Philly is reportedly shopping Embiid. Not sure what else we need to know about Embiid.
Yeah... I am a bit baffled when people think Embid is going to somehow magically turn this around and become more durable in his 6th season.
I stand by my point that if Boston makes the trade I proposed in this thread (i.e. Embiid, Bolden for Tatum, Theis, Kanter, Langford, and Poirier), this summer, Boston will be in the class of Milwaukee and both LA's next year, if not the outright favorite. That isn't based on an assumption that Embiid is miraculously going to play 80 games. He doesn't have to. He does have to be healthy for the playoffs (which isn't a given), but Boston can cruise through the regular season with Embiid playing like 65 games and still be among the favorites to win the championship. I just think the odds of Boston winning a championship at any time are increased by swapping Tatum for Embiid and for me winning championships is what truly matters. I don't want to waste Walker and Hayward's best years waiting for Tatum and to a lesser extent Brown to reach their full potential. I want to try to win, while the team has a lot of quality players at the top.
Guards - Walker, Smart, Wanamaker, Waters, Edwards
Wings/Swings - Hayward, Brown, Semi, G. Williams
Bigs - Embiid, R. Williams, Bolden
3 open roster spots (plus the TW) to be used on the MLE, 3 1st round picks, Fall and Green.
That team, especially with a quality MLE power forward just strikes me like a champion. And that is what I want. We are a decade from the last time Boston could have realistically won the title (and that was the last Finals appearance). 12 years since the last title. It is time to move this team back into realistic contention.
And let's be clear, I'm the guy that has been saying all season that Tatum is Boston's best and most valuable player. I love Tatum, but he isn't in Embiid's class as a player, at least not yet, and I just worry by the time he is, Boston won't have the players around him it needs to really be a contender. I've been saying for years Ainge needs to really pick a direction and he still hasn't done it. It is time.