So, to play devils advocate here, is the goal to make money, or is the goal to build a championship team. Not a team to make the eighth spot, and likely lose four straight to the Warriors, but a team that will actually compete for the western division championship and then the NBA championship? And if the goal is a championship, then how does losing our first round pick this year in the best draft in 10 to 15 years, help us? Do we subscribe to be the new Atlanta Hawks, or the Warriors?
It's this "We have to win now" approach that's gotten us into this mess in the first place. And for the most part, it's been about money. The team should have been torn apart long ago when Webb had the knee injury and Vlade's age had caught up to him. But the Maloof's were broke, and needed butts in the seats, so year after year, they tried to create an image of a team that was going to win again. There was a brief moment when the right moves could have propelled us into the next generation of up and coming teams, but instead of adding a Klay Thompson, a Kahwi Leonard, or a Damian Lillard, we added a Jimmer Fredette and a Thomas Robinson. Because they had name recognition, and would put butts in the seats.
The team has made a lot of mistakes, and most of them were because of money. I happen to agree with twslam07 on this point. The goal of the team right now may be to make the playoffs, but that goal may not necessarily be the best thing for the long range success of the team. Can anyone look at the makeup of this team, and tell me that their excited for the future of the franchise. Collison, Gay, Casspi, and McLemore are all probably gone at years end. Maybe Lawson as well. That's five of the 15 players on the roster. There's also a good chance we let Afflalo walk out the door. Barnes is going to be a thousand years old, Willie still needs seasoning, and Koufos is no more than a solid backup center.
Essentially, we could be left without a PG and huge holes at the SG and SF positions. Were already doing PF by committee. Right now, this team is truly a team where the sum of the parts is greater than the whole. And that's commendable, but it doesn't do a damm thing for the future of the team. So you'll excuse me if I don't get all that excited about grabbing the eighth spot in the playoffs. Now if someone will show me how were going to do both, make the playoffs, and build a championship team, then I'm on board. If we keep putting off the inevitable, at some point the chickens will come home to roost.