Soft Euro,
Memphis is a team that has too many question marks. They overachieved in the playoffs and they don't have a top tier player on their team, they only won 47 games in the regular season, they aren't a good defensive team. The biggest thing they had going for them in the playoffs was that they matched up well against the teams they faced. A team with Zach Randolph as the best player isn't going very far.
And what it takes to be a contender is talent. Chicago won 62 games and made it to the Conference Finals with Boozer, who's and undersized PF, and Noah, an undersized center. Miami, the other team in the Finals, had a very undersized center.
Besides, it's usually a bad idea to build your team by trying to match up with others. Those teams usually don't go all the way. You need to build a team that other teams try and match up against.
And you can't speed up the development process. This is a 22 win team that is more than just a move or two from contending.
It's my feeling that of the players under contract, only two I can definitely being part of a contending Raptors team, in 4 or 5 years. And that's Davis and Amir. I like DeRozan and I am optimistic about his future, but he's still a long way off from being a rotation player on a contender. Both Amir and Davis have the tools to be very good role players on a Championship team, because they have the intangibles and do the dirty work. DeRozan can't be a role player right now. He doesn't do enough of the little things. He's not a good defender so can't come in and defend, nor is he a good 3 point shooter, so he can't play off anyone. His role needs to be one main options (2 or 3) on offense, but he's simply not good enough, yet.
Unfortunately ALL the young players need time to develop, and you either play them and live with the consequences (as the Thunder did) or you get veterans and sit them to try and win. You can't have both. Personally, I like DeRozan, Davis, Amir and Valanciunas enough that I'm willing to wait for them to develop.
Memphis is a team that has too many question marks. They overachieved in the playoffs and they don't have a top tier player on their team, they only won 47 games in the regular season, they aren't a good defensive team. The biggest thing they had going for them in the playoffs was that they matched up well against the teams they faced. A team with Zach Randolph as the best player isn't going very far.
And what it takes to be a contender is talent. Chicago won 62 games and made it to the Conference Finals with Boozer, who's and undersized PF, and Noah, an undersized center. Miami, the other team in the Finals, had a very undersized center.
Besides, it's usually a bad idea to build your team by trying to match up with others. Those teams usually don't go all the way. You need to build a team that other teams try and match up against.
And you can't speed up the development process. This is a 22 win team that is more than just a move or two from contending.
It's my feeling that of the players under contract, only two I can definitely being part of a contending Raptors team, in 4 or 5 years. And that's Davis and Amir. I like DeRozan and I am optimistic about his future, but he's still a long way off from being a rotation player on a contender. Both Amir and Davis have the tools to be very good role players on a Championship team, because they have the intangibles and do the dirty work. DeRozan can't be a role player right now. He doesn't do enough of the little things. He's not a good defender so can't come in and defend, nor is he a good 3 point shooter, so he can't play off anyone. His role needs to be one main options (2 or 3) on offense, but he's simply not good enough, yet.
Unfortunately ALL the young players need time to develop, and you either play them and live with the consequences (as the Thunder did) or you get veterans and sit them to try and win. You can't have both. Personally, I like DeRozan, Davis, Amir and Valanciunas enough that I'm willing to wait for them to develop.
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