Stuck in the Middle with You
Even with Igoudala back the Nugs were gonna struggle to get somewhere. A trade of some combination of young players (Gallo, Ty, Chandler, Faried, McGee) for LMA would have possibly put them in contention, if they had Iggy. A small market team desperately trying to get in the door for the playoffs can't afford to lose a top free agent like Iggy. I hope to God Kroenke understands this and doesn't try to compete this year. Time to give it up and tank.
Secondly, it seemed Iggy had some serious competitive issues in the playoffs. I remember time and again thinking, "that dude doesn't look like he's trying very hard." LeBron, as much as I can't stand the way he has handled things, is 100% professional and when the game starts, he's hard at work and you can tell. Iggy, I couldn't tell. For a guy who is supposed to ramp up our defense and by his age alone be a leader I think we got precious little. He certainly made us better but not nearly to the level I thought he should have. Especially not 14 mil a year better.
Let's see what we have with our new coach. Let's see what we have with Arthur, Mozgov, Fours, Jham Erik Green, Q Miller and lets even throw ole Joeffery in there. Maybe one or two of them is starter material. If they suck, let's move on. We also need to find out if McGee is ever going to get it. He has the potential to be a great rim protector and floor runner but he has to be smarter. Let's see if he can do that this year, especially if it's a year without too much pressure. He's got the contract, the time and the ability. If he can't do it this year, let him go. Some other team will take him.
I would trade Chandler. He's too good to languish on this team. Get some young player with potential for him and let him go and get staters minutes. Finally I would also let Faried go. Energy guys are great but their effectiveness nearly disappears in the playoffs. Everyone is working hard then, (or should be) and even Draymond Green looks good when he's really trying hard and hustling. Gallo is perfect for this year as a year to recover from injury. Ty I'm not sure. He deserves something good, maybe he has patience for a rebuild, not sure.
Whatever happens the important thing is that management doesn't lose their minds and overpay some mediocre player to “save” the franchise. Overpaying for a building block or the final piece of the puzzle is acceptable, overpaying for mediocrity is not.
Too many GM's have had a great player walk out on them and turned to a poor plan B. Please, Josh, don't do it. Let Iggy go, don't try and fill the gap with something splashy and desperate. Let's see what we got, just don't leave us stuck in the middle.
