So going into the season I felt that we shouldn’t try trade in on a “star” player as I didn’t see that elevating us to that next tier. Well the leap that Haliburton has taken might change some minds, as going out for that star might indeed elevate us into that realm.
What do you think? Has Haliburton made superstar leap that means acquiring that guy is the right idea or should we stay the course?
Personally I’m good to stay the course as I want to see what Nesmith + Toppin can do, of course Mathurin as well.
It’s an excellent conundrum. I was happy going into this season with plenty of guys that can prove themselves, I did NOT expect that to happen so fast. There’s a core of guys now that are establishing to be capable regular season winners (ie. over 42 wins a season as baseline).
I think that core is Haliburton, Mathurin, Nesmith and Nembhard, with only Haliburton being a guaranteed starter on a team that would step up to being a contender. So at that point the analysis has to be: What do we need to become play-off contenders, what would it take to win the ECF? To challenge the title?
That is where things become very complicated.
The three names I added to the core still need a couple of years to ‘mature’ and even now are not ‘guaranteed’. Turner and BB are what they are now, they could definitely be role players (starters) on a contending team. Jalen Smith and Toppin have potential to get to that status as well. So just keeping this group together going forward? Absolutely fine with it.
But, it will not be a strong play-off team. Whether we like it or not, you need to be able to stop a Giannis, a Tatum, an Embiid when it comes to play-off success. You also need a very reliable first option scorer. At the moment that is Haliburton, but putting a 30ppg guy next to him REALLY creates issues for the opposition. Just imagine what a peak Paul George or Kawhi would add to this team?
The question thus: Who is the next ‘peak PG or Kawhi?’.
I genuinely haven’t got a clue… If we take all complications out of the equation and go full dream mode, which player would really elevate us? It needs to be someone who can be effective off the ball and who can match up to the MVP candidates out there.
The dream would be to upgrade Turner to Embiid, but Embiid is 30 now, so even if he became available (which seems increasingly unlikely now Maxey is breaking through) do you really want to risk investing that much in a player who has a checkered injury history? What about adding Jaylen Brown? It might work… Edwards… saliva dribbling from mouth…
None of them are likely though and I am not sure there is a likely candidate out there. This is why talk of going after PG for a year or two is not as stupid as some people make it sound. You add experience and fill several needs, despite him being a step slower on defense. Can you imagine how PG mentoring Bennedict will influence his development?
So yeah, it is an excellent conundrum, but I genuinely don’t know who we could want to add.
Edit: Sorry, making this very long now… but another factor is: The more our younger guys play, the more valuable they become, the more likely it is we CAN swing for the fences. I wouldn’t want Harden here under any circumstance, but would the Sixers have turned down two firsts, Hield and Nesmith? I highly doubt it. A few years ago we wouldn’t have had anything to offer in those scenarios. That is huge praise for our FO getting shit together.