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Is Masai Ujiri Too Risk Averse?

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  • Is Masai Ujiri Too Risk Averse?

    Very interesting article on the main page:

    Is Masai Ujiri Too Risk Averse?

    I am curious to know what you guys all think ?

  • #2
    I think Tim W(annabe an actual writer) has put out yet another festering turd of an "article"

    he doesn't even have his facts straight: NYK pulled out of the possible Lowry deal, not Ujiri.


    Then, suggesting that we should have traded Demar+Amir for Wiggins because that's "what great GMs do". Are you fucking kidding me? I'm telling you man, if that was ever on the table Wiggins would 10000000% be on this team already.
    Last edited by KHD; Thu Mar 26, 2015, 02:19 PM.

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    • #3
      After reading the article, I don't think Tim really understands what 'risk' is.

      1. He said that Ujiri waited too long to trade Carmelo, to the point that NYK would have actually been better to wait and sign Carmelo outright in the offseason. If that is true, is that not Ujiri taking a risk by holding onto an asset, risking losing him for nothing, and waiting for the return he wants?

      2. Was signing Nene to a big deal and then hoping that he could get a return for him during the next season not a risk? Most people in the NBA were calling it a gamble at the time, thinking that Nene didn't fit into Denver's long term plans. It could have backfired tremendously.

      3. Tim's main criticism of Ujiri in Denver is that he never traded a bunch of decent assets for a star. Which is a fine criticism, but let's not pretend that trading for a star player is typically a risky move.

      4. Trading Bargnani was not a risk, true. But trading away a star player like Gay as the beginning of a tanking process (which is what the trade really was) is certainly a risky strategy. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), it never turned into a tank, but the risk was there for things to go far worse than they actually did.

      5. He criticizes both trading part of a core as not risky, and then keeping a core together as not risky, in the span of two paragraphs! Basically, by this point every reader must have latched onto the pattern that Tim's going to find a way to justify absolutely every move that Ujiri has made as a low risk move.

      6. As KHD said, the Wiggins trade that Tim suggests was never on the table, and if it was, it would be the definition of a low-risk slam dunk for this franchise.

      7. That drafting Bruno 'wasn't as big a risk as it seemed' argument is bunk, he drafted a super high-risk player (albeit with a 20th-overall pick which isn't a great pick), and it is almost impossible to make a riskier pick at that spot. Maybe trading the pick for Golden State's 2015 first-rounder would have been higher risk.


      Just a bizarre attempt overall to find a pattern (risk aversion) where there isn't one.

      Comment


      • #4
        I usually enjoy Tim's articles but not a fan of this one. He is trying to be too hipster in his reach to criticize Ujiri.


        The one good tidbit from the article is this, in my opinion:

        "Fans may not like the idea of trading a Lowry or DeRozan or even a Valanciunas, but those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

        I like it because I've said it on the forums already, minus JV. For the raps to get valuable assets and inject more of whatever Masai is trying to build into the team, he is going to have to give something to get something. I think DeRozan should go but would not be opposed to trading Lowry. I'd have a really hard time trading JV unless you're getting another C in return. It is the hardest position to fill in the league.

        Combine the return of a trade above with a new coach and key free agent acquisition and raps should be one their way to building something sustainable.

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        • #5
          What a terrible article. I actually used to enjoy tim's writing, but he's trying too hard to against the grain here.
          "Stay steamy"

          - Kobe

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          • #6
            mcHAPPY wrote: View Post
            I usually enjoy Tim's articles but not a fan of this one. He is trying to be too hipster in his reach to criticize Ujiri.


            The one good tidbit from the article is this, in my opinion:

            "Fans may not like the idea of trading a Lowry or DeRozan or even a Valanciunas, but those that don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

            I like it because I've said it on the forums already, minus JV. For the raps to get valuable assets and inject more of whatever Masai is trying to build into the team, he is going to have to give something to get something. I think DeRozan should go but would not be opposed to trading Lowry. I'd have a really hard time trading JV unless you're getting another C in return. It is the hardest position to fill in the league.

            Combine the return of a trade above with a new coach and key free agent acquisition and raps should be one their way to building something sustainable.
            yeah, this. i'd say everyone on the team minus JV is moveable.
            @sweatpantsjer

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            • #7
              I actually found his analysis of MU's past resume quite interesting. It seems like Tim W has done his homework. I too think that MU is a type of GM who tries to avoid risks.

              All that being said I am not ready to write off MU as a good GM. I think this summer is a major one for him.

              I think he will choose the easy path of firing Casey and trading DD for some half decent players. I hope I am wrong and he does much more than that and really go after a good coach and fill the void in SF, PF and back up C.

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              • #8
                He conveniently left out the Salmons trade, which was another slam dunk for Masai.

                Tim should aim his vitriol at Casey, I think we could all get behind an article like that.

                Comment


                • #9
                  mcHAPPY wrote: View Post
                  I usually enjoy Tim's articles but not a fan of this one. He is trying to be too hipster in his reach to criticize Ujiri.
                  I have found this often with his articles, he's so obsessed with trying to say something contrary (and almost always negative) that to me he usually comes off as 1) not particularly insightful, 2) overly condescending.

                  Also, you can add a third point now, because he's not even sticking to the facts anymore.

                  Hence my calling him a wannabe writer. He's got some ability though.

                  Agree with him, and you, that trading one of our "core guys" should have to happen at some point, and yeah I see JV as nearly untouchable.

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                  • #10
                    Primer wrote: View Post
                    He conveniently left out the Salmons trade, which was another slam dunk for Masai.

                    Tim should aim his vitriol at Casey, I think we could all get behind an article like that.
                    To be fair to Tim, he did mention that MU has a track record of doing small deals. Salmon trade for example, is a small move but a good one. It is like a small time stock broker making a good deal and making a few thousands out of it versus the big guys who make that amount in an hour ...

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                    • #11
                      ceez wrote: View Post
                      yeah, this. i'd say everyone on the team minus JV is moveable.
                      JV is getting blown by a lot. And out of position a lot. I am interested to see if this changes over the next year.

                      At this point I think it is JV trying to do what he has been told to do, not the result of poor basketball IQ. He isn't super fast, but also I don't think he is the slow, plodding methodical robot in the paint that he is currently being portrayed as by the members of the media and some posters here. I find he seems to get down too low when he is one on one, and often doesn't have his arms up. I wonder if that is a technique he has been instructed to use...because he didn't used to do that and my memory is that he was much more effective last year in his one-on-one D.

                      If his D doesn't improve with a new coach, then he will have become moveable.

                      (Let me say that I expect both his D and his O to take quantum leaps if a new coach integrates him into a suitable system on both ends of the floor. I think he is a piece worth building around.

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                      • #12
                        I think the playoffs results will really impact what Masai does. If we win a series I think he still must be careful and look for upgrades to the team. Amir if resigned must accept a lower number. Landry to no fault of his own is such a offensive liability he should walk unless he accepts the minimum. Ross does not deserve a big contract and is not a very good trade piece right now.

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                        • #13
                          Masai will make a big move this offseason.
                          Demar and jv are the only 2 I think he will be opposed to trading unless a really good deal comes along because they can be a future 2/3 option on a contender.
                          Lowry gets traded this offseason imo to maximize his value because we have no chance at a championship. I think Knicks, lakers, or kings picks will be on the table depending on which one falls a few spots so that they can compete now. Lowry, Ross, 2016 type deal for ny or la, Lowry, 2016, a big? To sac.

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                          • #14
                            I actually got along really well with Tim when he was a poster here on RR, and even though I don't like his condescending tone as a regular RR blog writer I still respect his opinions. That said, he really jumped the gun on this one and seems to be going out of his way to build a case against MU that really isn't there.... yet.

                            As KHD pointed out, implying that Wiggins for Amir/DD was on the table in the off-season without a single source to back it up, is shoddy writing and yet that would be the only credible argument to support his thesis that MU is supposedly risk averse.

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                            • #15
                              golden wrote: View Post

                              As KHD pointed out, implying that Wiggins for Amir/DD was on the table in the off-season without a single source to back it up, is shoddy writing and yet that would be the only credible argument to support his thesis that MU is supposedly risk averse.
                              Actually, it wouldn't. A 47-win team that wasn't even supposed to be in the playoffs trading a role player and a one-dimensional SG for a probable franchise player, let alone the fact he is likely to end up as the greatest Canadian player of all time, is not at all a risk.

                              Risky is what Cleveland did in trading that same probable franchise player for Kevin Love to try and go all in and win this season. If they don't win, and Love walks to the West Coast, they may have given up a potential top-50 player of all time for absolutely nothing in return other than a 50-win season that they likely would have had anyway. That's risk-taking.

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