Mitch Kupchak post deadline presser

[ncfan]

2 minutes ago, Thelt said:

I am hoping that next year is better than this year if we retain Kemba.  Monk and Miles should be better next year after getting meaningful minutes this year.  Ideally they would both start next season along with Kemba.  Something like this maybe:

Kemba/Graham

Monk/Bacon

Bridges/Batum

Marvin/MKG

Cody/Biz/Willy

We could really use our draft pick this year to turn out well.  At next year's trade deadline we will have over $40 million in expiring deals.  That could net us something nice if the situation falls right.

 

Better as a team, yes

But that team's ceiling will be around the 6 seed as well.

Another year after, gives those kids more time to groom (Monk Litterally Just Turned 21). And some cap space to actually add valuable pieces around after the bad contracts are gone.

 

We wont quite be the 76er or Raptors then

BUT we could be pushing for a 3-4 seed

[djp14]

9 minutes ago, Thelt said:

If we continue to draft well by the time the bad contracts are gone we should be in good

As a bottom half Eastern Conference playoff team, we'll be drafting somewhere between 16-19. Hard to find impact players there.

[Shocker]

4 minutes ago, djp14 said:

As a bottom half Eastern Conference playoff team, we'll be drafting somewhere between 16-19. Hard to find impact players there.

There should be some pretty good players around that area.  Not a superstar but I think Kup can find a contributor.

[kungfoodude]

5 hours ago, djp14 said:

As a bottom half Eastern Conference playoff team, we'll be drafting somewhere between 16-19. Hard to find impact players there.

Yeah, that will be our problem if we stay the course we are currently on. NBA success is almost entirely built on superstar caliber players, not feel good stories or solid role players. Drafting outside the top 10 is dicey when it comes to finding elite players. Frankly, we have managed to even screw up top 10 picks with regularity. It's nice for the fans if we can squeak into the playoffs every other year but it will hamper our long term success unless we get some actual help for Kemba. Right now our roster is Kemba and a bunch rotational/role players. It's nice to see Monk and Bridges have flashes but we also need to be serious about the fact that neither of those guys is likely to blossom into another All-Star caliber player. Just look at our roster currently and ask yourself what you could offer up in a trade for any number of the All-Star caliber players that got traded away or are on the block this season. What could we give up to get Jimmy Butler? How about Anthony Davis? That's the big problem we have, a very real lack of overall talent.

So, something has to change if we are serious as a franchise about winning. You have to make a play for a big time talent in free agency(or more than one) or you have to go with the model that DID make the 76ers successful, which is lose. A LOT and for a long time. But, at that point you have all but wasted Kemba's entire career. 

We between the same rock and a hard place as we have been for a long time.

[MillionDollarCam]

I for one am going to give Kupchak the benefit of the doubt here.

Gasol and Kemba weren't going to carry this team to the second round against what is ahead of us and while I don't see Biyombo and and MKG as part of the future, giving up an unprotected first round pick would have been a huge gamble.

Kupchak seems really confident that Kemba will be back and I'm sure they can move some guys in the offseason to get Kemba some help.

Right now we have some young players in Graham, Chealey, Bacon, Monk, Macura, Bridges, and Hernangomez who could use some development and more then likely we will be adding more young players to the roster in the draft.

This is a super deep draft where mock drafts have players like Kevin Porter, DeAndre Hunter, Romeo Langford, DeAndre Hunter, Nassir Little, KZ Okpala, and Coby White going in the teens. There's a solid chance we'll get to add a good player in this years draft.

[davos]

Yeah, even with a trade/rental in Gasol, we are still likely to get swatted by the Bucks or Raptors Round 1 as the 7th or 8th seed.  And guess what?  That's likely happening without a trade as well haha.  Maybe we get lucky and climb to 5/6 but I don't see it with our inconsistencies.  Cho built a poor team structured with contracts that are hard to pair and guys that aren't worth much.  

Younger keeps: Bridges, Monk, Graham, Bacon (I still like this guy's potential)

Vet keeps: Kemba (Unless he decides to jet), Parker (If he doesn't retire)

Younger expendables: Chealey, Macura

Fair contract, good role player: Lamb, Willy 

Contracts/situations to weasel out of: The remainder of the team (Marvin, MKG, Frank, Batum, Zeller, Biz)

 

[GeorgeHanson]

13 hours ago, Thelt said:

I am hoping that next year is better than this year if we retain Kemba.  Monk and Miles should be better next year after getting meaningful minutes this year.  Ideally they would both start next season along with Kemba.  Something like this maybe:

Kemba/Graham

Monk/Bacon

Bridges/Batum

Marvin/MKG

Cody/Biz/Willy

We could really use our draft pick this year to turn out well.  At next year's trade deadline we will have over $40 million in expiring deals.  That could net us something nice if the situation falls right.

 

That lineup bodes for an 8-seed best case.....again, best case.

[GeorgeHanson]

2 hours ago, MillionDollarCam said:

I for one am going to give Kupchak the benefit of the doubt here.

Everyone should....give Kupchak the benefit of the doubt, that is.

Don't delude yourselves, Michael Jordan still makes all the key calls with this (joke of a) franchise.

[JakeDel5674]

22 hours ago, Shocker said:

There should be some pretty good players around that area.  Not a superstar but I think Kup can find a contributor.

No, not in this Draft. This Draft is vastly top heavy. Terrible ass Trey Jones from Duke is supposed to be a first rounder right now. Dude is all defense and that's it. 

[JakeDel5674]

11 hours ago, davos said:

Yeah, even with a trade/rental in Gasol, we are still likely to get swatted by the Bucks or Raptors Round 1 as the 7th or 8th seed.  And guess what?  That's likely happening without a trade as well haha.  Maybe we get lucky and climb to 5/6 but I don't see it with our inconsistencies.  Cho built a poor team structured with contracts that are hard to pair and guys that aren't worth much.  

Younger keeps: Bridges, Monk, Graham, Bacon (I still like this guy's potential)

Vet keeps: Kemba (Unless he decides to jet), Parker (If he doesn't retire)

Younger expendables: Chealey, Macura

Fair contract, good role player: Lamb, Willy 

Contracts/situations to weasel out of: The remainder of the team (Marvin, MKG, Frank, Batum, Zeller, Biz)

 

Lamb will warrant a good pay increase in my opinion. Not sure how the Hell we keep him. 

[JakeDel5674]

Way I look at it, the trade deadline was a win/win for most of us as fans. We kept our young pieces, if Kemba leaves, so be it, we're tanking and that's okay. If he stays, awesome, because we love Kemba. Win/win for us as a fan base honestly. 

[kungfoodude]

22 hours ago, JakeDel5674 said:

Way I look at it, the trade deadline was a win/win for most of us as fans. We kept our young pieces, if Kemba leaves, so be it, we're tanking and that's okay. If he stays, awesome, because we love Kemba. Win/win for us as a fan base honestly. 

I think the thing that will suck is that we will never really be able to build a good team around him while he is here. That is my big fear. 

Maybe in 2-3 years some of the younger guys will have made big strides and we can attract another elite player in free agency 

[kungfoodude]

57 minutes ago, Thelt said:

Look at it this way.  We are on track to make the playoffs this year.  Next year all our young players should be better since they have all gotten chances to play and develop this year.  So with any luck on the injury front we should be in the playoffs again next year. 

The year after that Biz, MKG and Marvin contracts expire.  That opens up $40 million in cap space.  A team that has made the playoffs two years in a row and has some young up coming players along with multiple all star Kemba is not going to look like a bad destination for a top free agent.  Also next year at the trade deadline $40 million in expiring contracts might look good to a team trying to dump salary and rebuild. 

The year after that Batum comes off and we are free from Cho's blunders.

Potentially that could be the case. I fear we will just attract guys that are looking for a payday and not a winning situation. In the meantime, hopefully we just keep improving and make ourselves slightly more attractive. 

Ideally we can land a big time talent through the draft but I think that odds of that are very, very slim in the short term.

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, Thelt said:

We have to hope that Mitch and JB do a better job at talent evaluation than Cho and Cliff did.  That can be in the draft and in free agency.  We did a good job of tanking last time.  We had a young star in Kemba and loads of cap space.  It all went south when we overpaid for Batum, Marvin, MKG and Cody.  All we can do is reset the meter and try again.  Ultimately it still rests on Mitch's shoulders and somewhat on JB to use our cap space and draft picks wisely. 

I was a heavy advocate of continuing to tank in an effort to get better, finally. Clearly that is not the plan for the franchise. I hope they can dig up some overlooked talent in the draft and perhaps lure some top tier free agents. 

I am very pleasantly surprised by the addition of Tony Parker and it being a big boost to the franchise. Maybe a couple more shrewd signings like that to help these younger guys out will be in order.