As a Nugs fan, it seemed odd to me that TC supposedly lost his mind with the Gobert trade (even though your season was full of injuries) and even though he was widely respected for YEARS.
My fear was and is now growing even more every day that TC knew exactly what he was doing. He saw first hand that the Nuggets were the immediate and likely somewhat long-term threat and he built a team to combat them. Fucking smart. I am far from a BB genius or even above average IQ, but how the Suns are applauded for building a team with no solution to Jokic is baffling.
OK, I’ve kissed your teams ass enough. I am not scared. You are. See you after game 7. Also fuck your lakes - not worth the insane amount of mosquitos that come with them in my 2 day experience.
Hope I’m wrong!
This article details how the decision was made and has interviews with Finch and people in the FO discussing the thought process. People wanted to blame the owners but based on these details, Finch, Gupta (our assistant GM who does the analytics) and TC were heavily involved in the decision and really reallllly believe Gobert is what this team needs. Gupta presented stat analysis and projections to show why it was a good idea to get Gobert. They drew up multiple schemes and talked about how they would be exploited and how they would counter it. I never understood the “owners forced TC to get Gobert” take. They looked at other candidates outside Gobert but kept coming back to Gobert.
They aren’t stupid and this was a deliberate decision with seemingly a lot thought and analysis behind it.
I’ve really liked TC thus far, especially his saavy signings and draft day moves. Splitting a pick into 2 later picks and moving up to get an early 2nd (bc an early 2nd is cheaper but comparable in value to a late first) are awesome moves. In just 2 years, he’s assembled the best team this franchise has had since 2004.