BGleas

Yup. The easy part is done. They have a high-level, potentially elite core. Now they need to optimize the pieces around them.

Yeah, I don't know what the Spurs do with Fox. IMO I put him above Mitch Johnson as far as blame for this series, and Mitch Johnson was pretty bad, so that tells you how awful Fox was. They have to figure something out. Harper needs to take over, but you can't have Fox coming off the bench. In Celtics fan circles a few weeks ago there was talk that Fox would be a good fit with Tatum and Brown. After watching Fox the last two series, and I get he had a hurt ankle, but hell no. I don't want him anywhere near my team.

Yeah, like I said Wemby is a phenomenal, dominant freakish player. No doubt. And like you said, he's only 22 and will continue to get even better. No doubt about all of that. If/when the Spurs do win a title, he'll almost assuredly be the Finals MVP. But with that said, to be a closer he's going to have to develop an unstoppable offensive move or bag. He's super young, but at this point he's not a guy that in a close, tight playoff game that you clear out on 3-4 straight possessions and say, "take us home big fella". He's more LeBron than he is Jordan/Kobe. All three all-time greats with multiple titles and Finals MVPs.

Agree. As a Celtics fan I'll always love Luke Kornet, but his minutes killed the Spurs in this series. They need a quality big that can allow Wemby to rest in the playoffs and also play alongside him for stretches. They need an Al Horford type that can play with Wemby and spell him as well. The Spurs definitely have a bright future. They need to figure out the De'Aron Fox situation because Harper will need to become the point guard, and Fox absolutely killed them. I think he had money on the Knicks.

The Spurs are going to have to hope Harper develops into a closer, which is entirely possible, or they will need to acquire one. Wemby is obviously phenomenal and a freak of nature, but he's not an offensive game closer. He doesn't have a reliable offensive go-to move. In close games in the NBA you need a guy or two that you know can get you buckets under pressure. The Spurs are super young and can develop it, but right now they don't have it, and it showed when these games got to winning time.

Yeah, it's interesting. OG is great and a super impactful player, but I'm even surprised people have him above VO. I'm a Celtics fan and don't get me wrong, I'd would take OG on my team any time. With that said while his career was derailed by injuries so the longevity isn't there, VO was a two-time all star. OG to this point has never really sniffed an all star team. Team success is obviously important, but when talking best players there are levels and team success seperates you within those levels. So to me, VO being a two-time all-star puts him at a level above OG. Maybe a Finals MVP levels that a bit.

Yeah, Madar was a 2020 Celtics draft pick. Dude was drafted 6 years ago and played in the 2021 Vegas Summer League!?!? Bilas is the worst. He's literally trying to destroy the same system that made his adult life what it is.

Dude was a Celtics draft pick and Vegas Summer League darling for two years like 3-4 years ago.

Complete apples to oranges comparison here, so almost even irrelevant numbers, but Harris' numbers last year at Duke would have ranked him on IU: 1st in DRtg 3rd in ORtg

With you on what could have been done with Harris' money if you're saying Dorn is kept as our 9th-10th guy (which would be 4th or 5th guard). Just not as a starter or 6th man playing 20+ mpg.

Again, I agree with you on the vast majority of this conversation, just not Dorn. He was bad at basically everything except spot-up shooting (which he was really only average at). Can't imagine Dorn starting and/or playing 20+ mpg on a good or even upper-middle of the pack Big Ten Team. Maybe he proves me wrong at Miami, but the ACC isn't the Big Ten.

Sorry for pushing this, more just having a slow, relaxing weekend so figured it would be fun to chat on this. With that said, I'd argue that Dorn is so bad that having him playing 20+ minutes per game would significantly lower our ceiling next season. We had 9 rotation guys last season and he ranked 6th or worse per 100 possessions in nearly every category except for 3pt shooting and turnovers (mainly because he doesn't handle at all). He was our worst defender and second worst rebounder (slightly better than Enright). I don't see how one of our worst players last season would help next year's team as a starter (or 6th man) playing 20+ minutes. Like I said, fully agree with being skeptical of Harris and wondering what else we could have done with that money. I'm with you there. Just can't understand advocating for Dorn as part of that.

What other things does he provide? He was 6th out of 9 rotation players in offensive rating, 8 out of 9 in rebounding per 100 possessions and 9th in defensive rating. He does almost nothing beyond streaky spot-up shooting (34% outside of that 3 game stretch). He's an awful defender.

Again, I'm with you on your Harris stance, but we're never going to agree on Dorn. He was bad last season. Honestly, I would have taken Jasai Miles back in that spot before Dorn. At least Miles can defend and rebound his position, and then the staff could have had him making 300-500 spot-up 3s a day in the off-season to try and get him serviceable as a shooter. Much easier to improve a players shooting.

No, he's an awful defender. Like, really bad. He provides one thing and one thing only, streaky spot-up shooting. You're only focusing on points and 3pt shooting percentage. Dorn killed us defensively. Not saying he's the only reason, but it's not a coincidence that our defense went down the drain the back half of the season when our worst defender started getting more minutes. There's more to the game than just spot-up shooting. I get it's not fair to remove his 3-4 game heater, but outside of that he was very average at the one thing he's supposed to provide.