The problem with our roster wasn't that it was too focused on two players. That's spin.
I agree with this. The problem with having Brown on a second max contract isn't that Brown is not a good player or that having (2) good players is some kind of a problem. The issue the second max contract creates is that you don't have enough money left to spend on the rest of the roster. You can't have Tatum and Brown both on max deals and then go get players like Holiday and Porzingis. You end up having to go with players like Queta and Scheierman.
I think if Brown was on say a $40M deal instead of a $58M (and looking for an extension), Brown would not have been traded. Teams really can't afford even 1 max deal unless it is a top player like Tatum. If you have given your first max deal to the 20th best player or something like that, you are probably not going to win a title. The trade market for Brown turned out to be restrained but this was not due to his ability, it was his ability relative to his contract. Teams did not seem to want Brown on a max deal as their #1.
but now they don't have Brown and still don't have the ability to add players like Holiday and Porzingis because they have PG with a similar salary as Brown and is a less productive player.
it's like the CBA is designed to push teams to build with young players on cheap deals and have to deal them away when/if they've developed into max-contract-type players. Can't say I'm a fan of it. I have little doubt that the next CBA will be revised in a way that will screw the C's yet again no matter what their roster/financial situation is at that point.
Yes, they are stuck with Paul George on a max deal for now so no better off this season. I am not saying I like the trade. It may work out if they are able to trade Paul George (with picks attached) or if they end up getting a lottery pick out of it, but for now, I don't see how the team is better. Maybe no worse if George can stay healthy, maybe, but that seems like the ceiling, to be about the same.
Again, if they are somehow about the same or close to the same, but with the added picks, they could still come out of this ahead, maybe, over time. But fans are impatient.
