I'm not going to pile on my fellow mods too much, but I think maybe they've gotten a little too cute this year.
Kyrie Irving
Lance Stephenson/Evan Fournier
Danillo Gallinari/Evan Fournier
Pau Gasol/Gallo/Splitter
Tiago Splitter/Jonas Valanciunas
I don't really see the problem. Shooting, defense, high-upside. All done with the crappiest drafting spot and zero time from either of us..could be better, but I think it could be a lot worse.
The "high upside" part is what I'm talking about. You're betting on upside, where in a lot of cases, that upside is no better than what was available (as a proven player) on the board.
Kanter was one of the bigger reaches of the third round. Gortat seemed like the best and safest option in my mind. At least with Kanter, a lot of people see upside.
However, spending your 6th and 7th rounders on guys who *combined* for 14.1 points per game last year just seems like a pretty big waste, especially with guys like Thornton, Delfino, etc. still available.
It's like you're in DKC mode, or building a team of the future. You started with a core of Kyrie Irving and Pau Gasol, which made your squad a top-tier contender. Instead of supplementing that core with excellent role players, you've by and large reached for players.
From my perspective, the Mod Squad is probably a lower-end playoff team, and certainly not a contender. I wonder, if you'd put together a squad like this, would you be better off:
Gortat
Gasol / Splitter
Battier
Gordon / Delfino
Irving
(Swap out Battier with a SF to be named later if you wish).
Anyway, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but that's what I meant by "cute".
(And, yes, I do realize you're sort of mailing it in this year, and understandably so.)
Yeah, I guess i can see that. I hate the Gortat team, but I see it.
Everyone on our team's a starter walking into next season (with the possible exception of Stephenson), everyone's got good metrics, everyone's got experience as a starter and is presumed to improve (with the exception of Gasol improving, and Fourier having limited experience).
I guess its kinda of an upside thing, but in the real NBA, these are a lot of good bets, not just for the future, but also just to be competent starting rotation players if nothing else next year.