We are a Dominant two guard away from being title contenders

[obnoxiousmime]

Honestly we could use a talent upgrade at every position. Everybody on the roster now has some huge hole in their game. I'm not trying to bash the team, rather hold them up to a championship standard. All of these guys, including Rondo, COULD start on a contender but only if they were surrounded by 2-3 more complete players.

It's almost like people forgot we lost three hall-of-famers in the last two years. You can't replace them with guys who would be lucky just to make an all star team and expect a new banner in the rafters.

  None of those guys have been playing at a HOF level recently. And by recently I mean at least a few years.

I don't understand your point. I was just appraising the talent currently on the roster and comparing them to the last championship team we saw around here. I thought that might add some perspective when people start talking about being "one player away." Not saying we should cut bait but we need to be careful about how much we pay them and not hesitate to upgrade if possible.

I wasn't saying we should have kept those old guys, if that's what you thought.

[fitzhickey]

Dante Exum 
What kind of calibre 2 guard? Do you mean Kobe MJ Oscar Robertson super star, or James Harden level player?

[KG Living Legend]

 Yes Harden would qualify, Wade in his Prime, all the guys you mentioned. Exum and maybe Marcus Smart could be that guy.

[fitzhickey]

 Yes Harden would qualify, Wade in his Prime, all the guys you mentioned. Exum and maybe Marcus Smart could be that guy.

I'd rather Exum or someone not Harden, his defence is just yuck

[bobbyv]

I'd love a starting lineup of Rondo, Bradley, Melo, Sully and Asik

[obnoxiousmime]

 Yes Harden would qualify, Wade in his Prime, all the guys you mentioned. Exum and maybe Marcus Smart could be that guy.

It would be interesting to see how Smart handles himself at the 2 in the NBA. He's the same height as Wade, which is a little undersized for SG. However, Wade was fast and strong enough to overcome his below average height at the position.

[EDWARDO]

This post is exactly the WRONG way to think about the NBA:

1. We are about the 15th-20th best team in the league, so adding a dominant 2 guard would make all of those other teams title contenders too, so what's the point? Even teams that alreeady have a good 2 guard could make good use of a "dominant" 2 guard.

2. EVERY NBA team is a title contender with THE dominant 2 guard, if you want to put Lebron in that slot. Even Utah would be a threat, and if you think that's a stretch, look back on the Cavs teams Lebron took to Finals and ECF when he was a much more immature player and tell me they are that much better than the Jazz, etc.

3. What really matters is having THAT GUY, not necessarily the position. You could say every team is a dominant PG, center or PF away, as long as the guy is dominant enough.

4. Finally, this totally dismisses Bradley. He's never ever a top 2 player on a title team, but he's a GREAT piece. Plays very hard, A+ defender, knows his role and doesn't need shots, can score, but doesn't need to dominate the ball on his hands to do so.

We can all dream of getting dominant players, but they only come around every so often. In the meantime, you collect assets and guys who can play next to those superstars. Bradley is a perfect fit in that respect.

[SHAQATTACK]

We are dominate Center away from anything like a championship.

With the right big man on board .....the rest falls into pace.

So ...since we can't buy one ......tank to get the lotto pick .....to get  serious payer to trade for a dominate  big .

[guava_wrench]

If the dominant 2 guard is Michael Jordan or Kobe in his prime, sure.

We are also a dominant 5 away if that is Shaq in his prime, or a dominant 4 away if it is Duncan in his prime. Or a dominant 3 away if it is Lebron.

Quite odd to focus on the 2 when Bradley has reached the point where he is contributing more than Green, and we are far from impressive at the 5.

[fitzhickey]

If the dominant 2 guard is Michael Jordan or Kobe in his prime, sure.

We are also a dominant 5 away if that is Shaq in his prime, or a dominant 4 away if it is Duncan in his prime. Or a dominant 3 away if it is Lebron.

Quite odd to focus on the 2 when Bradley has reached the point where he is contributing more than Green, and we are far from impressive at the 5.

Joel Embiid, Hakeem 2.0 

[BASS_THUMPER]

Avery game is just like ya so called nba star game
good games bad game

jordan had bad game
lebron has bad games
kobe not even in the game

Avery stays

[vjcsmoke]

 I love Avery. But the wiser part of me knows he's the weak link in our starting five after the Asik trade goes down.

 

Are you kidding?  Avery has all star potential and is only 23.

Personally I dont go that far with Bradley. I think Bradley would be a greater asset for us if he came off the bench playing before a star SG.

Aflallo is what comes to mind as the best "potentially feasible" option (I think Orlando will be shopping him for picks, assets, and cap space.)

I don't feel like Aflallo is a 'dominant' guard though.  He's a guy who can score for you but is he much better offensively than what we have in house when you consider the entire package?  Crawford has PG-like skills while Bradley has elite defensive skills, and Lee is your typical 3+D SG.

I'd love to get a top SG in the draft or perhaps Mclemore from the Kings if he becomes available somehow.

[billysan]

I think the so called 'available' dominant SG's are all in the draft to be realistic. Smart, Selden, Young, Harrison and so forth. The trouble is, they are all very young and will take easily 1-2 years seasoning in the NBA to be the caliber of player we need IMHO.

If we were lucky enough to land Melo, I would advocate to start Jeff Green at SG. I believe that in a very short time, he would be much more dominant than Avery Bradley. We may even need to trade Bradley in short order due to lack of playing time.

[crimson_stallion]

Bradley is nowhere near the weakest link in our starting lineup.

Bass is playing probably as well as he ever has for us - he plays hard defense, puts good effort in to rebounding and gives his all every night...but you can't get past the fact that he just doesn't have that much outright talent.  He's still underized (6'7") at the PF spot, he lacks the shooting range and ball handling to play SF, and he's still putting up averages of 13 points and 8 rebounds per 36 minutes while shooting at 46% - not fantastic numbers for a starting PF. 

Crawford went through a stretch where he was playing with his head, and he did nicely in that stretch.  Now he's starting to go back to Crawford play, and it's worrying.  He's forcing things off the dribble (leading to turnovers) and he's taking some terrible shots (which he often isn't making).  His defense is still suspect.  I think he'd be a very good 6th man, but im not sure he's good enough to be a starter.

The only guys in that starting 5 that are probably playing better than AB are Green and Sully.  Green has put up a ton of 20+ point games in the last month or so and has continued to play great defense, while Sully has been a beast. 

Now it looks like we aren't gettig Asik, so our weakest link (IMO) is still the center position - based on the fact that I still consider Sully a PF and not a C.  I think what we really need is a borderline all-star at the center spot (think - Greg  Monroe) to start alongside Sully.  I think this could push us up to contender status, especially with the way Sully + Bradley are playing lately, plus the imminent return of Rondo.

Just for the record, Bradley is averaging 16 points and 5 rebounds per 36 minutes right now while shooting 46% from the field and 40% from three.  This are very solid offensive numbers from a guard who is known primarilly for his defense. 

He's also ony averaging a pretty modest 1.8 turnovers per game, which is not bad for somebody who has the ball in his hands as relatively frequently as bradley does.  His ball handling has improved, his shooting is far better, and even his passing has improved a little bit.  As long as you don't ask him to play the PG spot for extended minutes, he's a very solid player with a ton of upside.

[celtic -_- pride]

After tonight's game. This thread title is now invalid