Former Knicks GM Scott Perry on the Hoop Genius Podcast about the disgruntled superstar strategy: “If a guy’s disgruntled somewhere else, what makes you think he won’t be disgruntled when he comes to you? I’m just sayin. You hear this as a strategy now…Me personally, you have to proceed with real caution…I don’t have the ‘arrogance’ necessarily to believe that a guy’s gonna come to our place & he’s gonna be happy just because…And when you look at these disgruntled stars, how many of them have left a situation where everything was catered around them…when they go to the new team, it’s not quite the same for them…the guys that have been traded…Dwight Howard, when I first got to Orlando, he was the Orlando Magic. Ever since he’s been gone from there, what’s his career looked like? He’s been searching for what he had in Orlando the entire time”
Idiot wasted all our lotto pick from Phil to Perry to Leon then they make excuses of trading for talent on top of that they don’t collect assets for a star player trades.
James Harden is the #1 example of this that should be top of mind when people think about trading for a disgruntled star. There are countless more examples out there too.
Remember this quote when you see the next Zion tantrum and try to hop in the trade machine
The Zion love is the hardest for me to understand. He’s a player who relies so much on explosiveness and his habits tell me that he’s a significant risk to lose that over time.
And if self-pride and a desire to be great doesn’t motivate him now (like it always has been for the greats), I don’t see why people think he will develop that drive when he goes to another team. He might for a time, but he’s likely to revert.
Compare him to Randle, IQ, RJ, Sims, Josh Hart, etc. and the work they put in during the offseason and the shape they are in. There is a reason Thibs can play his guys big minutes and they stay healthy. I don’t think you can count on that with Zion.
And finally, do people really think he’s the kind of guy who’s going to develop an outside game as his explosiveness wanes? I don’t see it.
I don’t want them blowing their wad on that guy because he’s been off the court more than on it.
One thing we can say about this team- Every single guy is of high character, no drama off the court and they seem like they are all cool with each other. I think that is what boosts chemistry on the court.
That being said, we can really use a true #1, but the way it looks this FO is only looking to do so on our terms and pace, so hopefully not getting a disgruntled diva.
Other disgruntled stars that have been traded. CP3, Shaq, kawhi, melo, KG and kareem come to mind as players who were disgruntled and worked out. If you want to argue Melo didn’t work out, sure but while I see Perry’s point, there’s other sides to this case.
I agree with proceeding with caution but the truth is, if you feel like you’re bringing a player into a great situation and environment, you shouldn’t worry about who you trade for as much. Have faith in the foundation that you’re responsible for and believe that they won’t be disgruntled. Can’t be afraid to make a splash forever.
Does this apply to Zion as well?
For all the geniuses out there who think trading for Zion is the move