Strengths:

  • Tyrese Haliburton is our point guard for the foreseeable future and he is quickly becoming MVP calibre.
  • We have one of the best head-coaches in the league.
  • We have a lot of flexibility going forward in how we want to construct this team.

Weaknesses:

  • Our supporting cast is not as established as we may like. Many of our other players are on short term deals.
  • There is no guarantee we are now a ‘player’s destination’. We like to hear how TH is a dream to play with, but would that get a top FA like Siakam or Anunoby to commit?
  • Defens. Yes, I missed the last e, it is so obvious that our defens is crap that I don’t even need to spell it out.

Opportunities:

  • We have some talented young players on the roster, but progress has been slow. Mathurin and Nembhard are stalling this season so far and Walker and Sheppard don’t see much of the court. We could switch tracks this season to focus on development, we have our own pick as well. (Yes, that is me saying we start thinking about losing a bit more)
  • We can strike whilst the iron is hot, do we make a win-now move? It’s definitely a possibility. We have some decent assets that may get a deal over the line. We traditionally value our picks highly, but we have a decent group of young players coming through and we’re not going to get a pick better than mid-range this year anyway.

Threats:

  • Indecision is a real threat. Carrying on as we are currently (8-6) does not achieve anything. We are not developing our young players and we are not signalling intent for the future. Having the best offense in the league is awesome, but it won’t be long before we are in the same (bad) boat as Atlanta has been in recent years. Great offensive leader of the team, but incapable of consistent performances due to no defensive identity.
  • Fans lethargy. It almost feels normal to score 131 points in a loss. We’re currently offering an unbalanced experience and fans will start to get fed-up with losing, especially giving up 132 against the Raptors and 128 against the Magic. Both teams are firmly in the bottom half for offensive rating by the way…

Decisions that may set a direction:

  1. Finish the season and look to attract an FA. Key position is forwards, a few options coming up, Siakam, Harris, Anunoby, DeRozan???, PG24???, Kaw… OK, I’ll stop there. Of the big name players the only realistic addition that fits our timeline would be OG Anunoby. Would he come? And for how much? And is he actually worth it?
  2. Our defense is so poor because we are consistently looking for transition offense. What about tweaking our schemes a bit and actually crashing the defensive boards? If we have to sacrifice 5ppg of our offensive rating in exchange for gaining -5papg and boosting our defensive rating… It would make such a difference to the way this team looks and feels.
  3. Make a mid-season trade. We need a better option for our forwards. But who? And what would it cost?

I don’t actually have a preference (although I hate the option of not doing anything), I don’t think any decision will be made before the new year anyway, but I am curious where you, as fans, lean?

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  • KlumberOPBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Again, not over reacting! Just an analysis of where we currently are.

    I didn’t state we shouldn’t push for a playoff berth, although I do hate the idea of standing still this season. The reason I do is because the team is actually in quite a precarious phase.

    Bruce is on a team option, do we take that next year? Do we decline and extend for a different number? Myles is only here for this and next season on his current contract. Do we extend him? What number are we looking at there?

    What about Hield? I am fine just letting him ride out the season, but do we extend him? What would that look like? Is the intention to keep him another three, four years? What will he ask for at that point?

    Toppin is a huge question mark to me, I don’t think his play has merited starting, he’s expiring. Is he capable of making that next step? What is that worth to us?

    This team is helluva lot of fun, there is no denying it. But things aren’t as straightforward as they seem. And that defense really does need sorting out. I’m not convinced we’ll make it to the play-offs if we have to rely on being the best offensive team. There’s slippery slopes all under this current approach.