OK, I get your point, but bear in mind, the easiest position to take on any issue is to look at it from a negative point of view. You don't have to prove anything. Most negative arguments are abstract. I could make you the GM and you could go out and try and do everything you want, and I could sit back and criticize everything I thought you didn't accomplish. And I would be right, just as your right about what you thought Vlade didn't accomplish. The truth is, sometimes it's not possible. For whatever reason, be it the climate, the lack of money, the planets aren't aligned, or the player you wanted had already made up his mind about where he wanted to play. Obviously there are things you can't control. Remember, sometimes the best moves you make are the one's you don't make.
So I'm not saying your wrong and I'm right, as you said, we don't yet know the outcome. I don't think Vlade thought that WCS was going to be a star when he drafted him, but I do think he thought he would help the Kings defensively. If he also becomes a star, then that's a bonus. Not sure why every draft pick has to be a star or he's a bust. I'm also not sure why every player we acquire now has to be a great defensive player. Last time I checked, the team that puts the ball through the basket the most times win's. I think you need a balanced mix of offensive and defensive players. If you can find a player or two that can do both, then great, but generally, those players are stars and harder to come by.
I'm never going to convince you, nor you me, and I'm fine with that. From a personal point of view, I'd rather remain positive. I just happen to like happy faces more than depressed one's. The most amazing thing to me is how negative people can be happy about being negative. It's as though they enjoy pain. Of course you could say I'm living in a fantasy world and maybe I'am at times.
But anyway you cut it, Disneyland is more fun than any negative alternative.
So here are some negatives.
A team acquires stars (meaning more than one) first and foremost through the draft. That's how we acquired Cousins. The painful truth is, that we've blown our opportunities time and time again to add additional stars to the team. I'm past trying to point fingers at whom to blame because it doesn't matter anymore. But we could have had Klay Thompson and Damian Lillard playing next to Cousins right now. Or Kahwi Leonard. My point is, the possibilities were there and they'll be there again. But, it won't happen overnight. You can't make mistake after mistake for 9 or 10 years, and expect to fix it in a year or two. So the question is, do you, we, trust Vlade to be the man to lead us into the future.
You see, I'm not opposed to pointing out negatives, but I deal more with results as opposed to speculation on the future. One is factual, and the other is abstract, meaning the results can't yet be proved. So how anyone looks at the future is a matter of choice. So now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to try and figure out why we drafted Papagiannis.
