A Win/Wi ln trade (blow it up/trial new core)

[Who]

Even take a guy like Kawhi Leonard - he is a superstar but is he the type of player you build a team around? Do you need to cater to his skill-set?

I don't think so.

Now guys like LeBron or Doncic or Trae Young - yes, you need to build around those guys. They are high volume scorers and high volume playmakers. They are all ball-dominant players. Everything on their teams revolves around them.

Take a guy like Embiid, do you need to build around him? Yes, I think so because his post-centric game makes him an unusual player in today's league so you need to build an unusual offense around him.

Same with Giannis with the added pressure of his lack of shooting ability which means everyone around him has to makeup for his limitations to hide his weaknesses.

How much do you have to build around a Kawhi Leonard? What players can work alongside him? Well, pretty much everyone. He has the type of game that fits well alongside others. Highly efficient scorer who doesn't dominate the ball and plays strong defense.

Kevin Durant is the ultimate example of fitting alongside anyone and in any system. He can be effective next to anyone in any type of system. He gives you more options in terms of team building than any other star.

So what about Tatum and Jaylen? How much do you have to build a team around them? Not much, I don't think. They are both strong shooters, good scorers, good rebounders and good defenders. Those are the types of skills that will fit very well next to many different types of players and in many different types of systems.


I just want to build a team where they are pieces of a puzzle rather than the puzzle itself where everything has to revolve around them (like LeBron) because (1) I don't think they have type of skill-set or structural weaknesses in their games that needs to be maximized or hidden (2) They are varied and solid enough as two way guys to mix well with most other players so it is just plain unnecessary to focus so much on them in terms of team building.

[Moranis]

Beal may be a slight upgrade on Brown (may) and is probably a better fit with Tatum given his passing (probably), but there is no way I'd trade Brown for Beal.

[Moranis]

The problem isn’t the Jays, at least for the most part.  It’s the supporting cast, particularly our guards.

I don’t understand why the team neglected shooting so much, but this is the natural consequence of that.

Did they really neglect it?

OK, Romeo was not a shooter, but he was a scorer.  Then, although I wanted a PG, they took Nesmith who was one of the best shooters in the draft, allegedly.  I don't think they ignored it, I think they missed!

They ignored it this past off-season.

Horford and Richardson in their career aren't a lot different than Fournier and Walker in their careers as shooters.

Horford and Richardson combined take about the same number of 3PAs as Kemba for their career, at a lower percentage.

When Al started really taking them and Richardson for his career shoot basically the same percentage as Kemba on a couple of more shots per game (over their careers).  Now sure if you include Al's first 8 years when he shot 67 3's total, then yeah that brings down his career per game numbers a lot. 

They obviously don't shoot as many as Walker or Fournier, but I was merely commenting that their percentages aren't all that much different over their careers.  And Richardson this year is basically the best shooter of the 4 (he just wasn't a good fit in Dallas or Philly). 

When the 3 most voluminous shooters are all way off what they were doing last year (i.e. Tatum, Brown, and Smart) it really skews the numbers.  The rest of the team is only a bit off of last year's shooting.  It is the 3 main guys that are really bringing the percentage down (Pritchard and Nesmith are way down as well, but they don't have as much volume). 

[PhoSita]

The problem isn’t the Jays, at least for the most part.  It’s the supporting cast, particularly our guards.

I don’t understand why the team neglected shooting so much, but this is the natural consequence of that.

I don't think they're the problem per se, but they also aren't the kind of players who naturally create openings for teammates / make the game easier for those around them etc.  It doesn't help that there is no bread and butter "Tatum and Brown play."  It's not like there's a two man game there that the team can go back to in tough times. 

All of that means that there's more onus on the supporting cast to be talented and skilled enough to provide that structure.

They are not the type of players you build a team around.

That is not to say they are not the type of players you can build a top team with them in major roles. Just that the team should not be scuplted around them.

Why?

Because they are not the types of players that can shoulder that load. They are not types of players who can organize and direct and offense. Or organize and direct a defense.


They are the types of players where you build a top team and they can fit into it because they are talented two-way guys. You build a team closer to the 2014 Spurs (4 stars, lots of depth) or the 2004 Pistons (4 stars, lots of depth) or 1979 Sonics (3 stars, lots of depth).

Another way of saying this is that Tatum & Brown are luxury pieces. They should operate in your offense similar to how average starting caliber two way wings would operate, but they have a greater than average capacity for taking and making a high volume of shots. 

Both Tatum and Brown have the ability to go off for 20 points in a quarter, or 40-50 in a game.  But they don't really change the way your offense operates and they don't put a ton of pressure on the opposing defense.  Even when they're hitting a lot of shots, they're hitting the kinds of shots that opponents want them to take.

In short, Tatum & Brown raise the ceiling of your team, but they don't set the floor.  They don't provide a structure that makes it easier for the guys around them.

So if your team without those guys is not particularly good, it's going to be not particularly good a lot of the time even when those guys are playing, unless one of them is going off for 40-50 every single night.