Player The restricted-age video store section of Dylan Harper

[Ice009]

Even though this is a superstar league, outside of that I think there is a lot to be said about having multiple high level/borderline stars instead of just one player who is in that tier between where Fox and Castle are and where a guy like SGA is. I guess that is the Brunson/Booker/Cade/Maxey tier? Each of those guys is probably better than each of our 3 guys… but I would much rather have our trio. Teams become overly reliant on that next tier of player, and when they have an off night they are basically fucked. To the contrary, if one of our guys has an off night, we just roll on to the other two.

So how do the tiers that you're ranking go? SGA is in the very top tier and have you got Fox and Castle (I assume Dylan too?) in a tier under Brunson/Booker/Cade/Maxey (are these guys second tier and then Fox and Castle in a third tier?)?
I think I do prefer what you said. To have 2-3 guys in a slightly lower tier instead of a single guy in a higher tier. I guess we will see how that works out. I believe/hope it will work out great for the Spurs.

 

[spurraider21]

I don’t know how long we’ll be able to keep the three of Fox, Castle and Harper… but I hope it’s a long time (with all 3 playing at a high level, I mean) because the diversification it provides along with the 48 minutes of high level ball handling and playmaking… it’s really a huge advantage.

Even though this is a superstar league, outside of that I think there is a lot to be said about having multiple high level/borderline stars instead of just one player who is in that tier between where Fox and Castle are and where a guy like SGA is. I guess that is the Brunson/Booker/Cade/Maxey tier? Each of those guys is probably better than each of our 3 guys… but I would much rather have our trio. Teams become overly reliant on that next tier of player, and when they have an off night they are basically fucked. To the contrary, if one of our guys has an off night, we just roll on to the other two.

The same is similarly true of our wings (though they aren’t quite to the level of our guard trio). Depth and diversification is the key to this squad (outside of Wemby, of course).

the honest answer is we can keep all 3 until harper's extension is due, and then we've got to move off of one of them

moving off one of the younger guys would net a larger return, but moving off fox would keep a long term big 3 intact

 

[LeBowen]

the honest answer is we can keep all 3 until harper's extension is due, and then we've got to move off of one of them

Not necessarily if the ownership is willing to pay luxury tax for a year since Fox's current deal ends after the first year of Harper's extension.
Devin would probably be gone, though.

This isn't such an unrealistic outcome if Fox is willing to accept a paycut on his next contract and probably move into 6th man role at that point since he'll be 32.

 

[spurraider21]

Not necessarily if the ownership is willing to pay luxury tax for a year since Fox's current deal ends after the first year of Harper's extension.
Devin would probably be gone, though.

This isn't such an unrealistic outcome if Fox is willing to accept a paycut on his next contract and probably move into 6th man role at that point since he'll be 32.

harper's extension in this scenario kicks in for the 2029/2030 season. by then, Fox would be 31-32 and will be an expiring 60mil player. assuming harper/castle develop as we think, thats potentially an all star caliber backcourt pairing who would be capable of playing 33mpg apiece.

by then decisions have already been made around which of vassell/champagnie/keldon we can afford to keep. wemby is maxing supermax money. castle's extension already kicked in the year prior

i dont think it would be feasible tbh, tax notwithstanding

 

[scott]

So how do the tiers that you're ranking go? SGA is in the very top tier and have you got Fox and Castle (I assume Dylan too?) in a tier under Brunson/Booker/Cade/Maxey (are these guys second tier and then Fox and Castle in a third tier?)?
I think I do prefer what you said. To have 2-3 guys in a slightly lower tier instead of a single guy in a higher tier. I guess we will see how that works out. I believe/hope it will work out great for the Spurs.

Great question... and it's tough, but here's my opinion:

• S-Tier. There are only 4 current members of this group. SGA, Jokic, Luka, Wemby. Giannis has fallen out, IMO. Having one of these guys is such an advantage, obviously, but not everyone can have one.
• A-Tier. These are your guys that are expected all-stars/All-NBA guys. For PGs, I think Brunson, Booker, Cade and Maxey are probably those guys, but I think there is some fair debate here. Outside of PGs, you have some other guys who maybe are a little more clear cut. Jaylen Brown, healthy Tatum, Ant, Dono Mitchell, etc.
• B-Tier. First, don't want to confuse this with "B-players" as that's not what I'm saying... but this is where I think Fox and Castle go. Harper isn't quite here yet but only because he is a rookie, but he projects to possibly ascend past this tier (and honestly, maybe Castle too).

If you don't have an S-Tier player, you absolutely need to have one or two A-tier guys if you want to be a legit title contender (like Boston's title run). But if the choice is between 1 A paired with 1 S... or 3 Bs paired with 1 S (what the Spurs have)... I'll take the diversification of the 3 Bs over the 1 A.

 

[LeBowen]

If you don't have an S-Tier player, you absolutely need to have one or two A-tier guys if you want to be a legit title contender (like Boston's title run). But if the choice is between 1 A paired with 1 S... or 3 Bs paired with 1 S (what the Spurs have)... I'll take the diversification of the 3 Bs over the 1 A.

I think that in those situations it also comes down to the rest of the supporting cast.
Boston won because they had Tatum/Brown as A-tier guys, White/Jrue as B-tier guys, I'd say even Porzingis was B-tier when healthy, but they also had a lot of high end role players.

I'd rather have a bunch of high end role players than another B-tier guy.
For example would Lauri be worth it if it meant Devin, Keldon, Champ are gone and we get two scrubs in their place.

 

[scott]

Not necessarily if the ownership is willing to pay luxury tax for a year since Fox's current deal ends after the first year of Harper's extension.
Devin would probably be gone, though.

This isn't such an unrealistic outcome if Fox is willing to accept a paycut on his next contract and probably move into 6th man role at that point since he'll be 32.

harper's extension in this scenario kicks in for the 2029/2030 season. by then, Fox would be 31-32 and will be an expiring 60mil player. assuming harper/castle develop as we think, thats potentially an all star caliber backcourt pairing who would be capable of playing 33mpg apiece.

by then decisions have already been made around which of vassell/champagnie/keldon we can afford to keep. wemby is maxing supermax money. castle's extension already kicked in the year prior

i dont think it would be feasible tbh, tax notwithstanding

Not making any predictions, but it is worth nothing that both the NBA and the Players Association have the option to opt out of the current CBA after the 28-29 season... so it's possible that Harper's extension kicks in under a different set of rules entirely. Considering this will be right after 30 new roster spots have been created and the owners just raked in $10-20B in expansion fees... things could look a lot different.

 

[scott]

I think that in those situations it also comes down to the rest of the supporting cast.
Boston won because they had Tatum/Brown as A-tier guys, White/Jrue as B-tier guys, I'd say even Porzingis was B-tier when healthy, but they also had a lot of high end role players.

I'd rather have a bunch of high end role players than another B-tier guy.
For example would Lauri be worth it if it meant if Devin, Keldon, Champ are gone and we get two scrubs in their place.

Yes, every situation comes down to the circumstances...

In comparing that Celtics team to this Spurs team, it's basically trading out one S-tier for two A-tiers, both teams had three B-tiers.

I agree with your point that you have to balance out the ranks after that. Kind of like when folks here still wanted to somehow turn Devin into TMIII... I would always ask... why? So that TMIII can turn into Devin? Devin's playing his role perfectly, we don't need someone "better" (I put that in quotes because who knows which of the two players are actually better at the role they'd play here... TMIII is taller and longer is the only thing I know for certain) playing Devin's role. I'm as big a TMIII fan as they come, but the puzzle pieces still have to fit.

Edit: when's the last time we had a successful pairing of an S and an A? Curry + Klay?

Looking at the last few champs:

OKC: S + two Bs
BOS: Two As + three Bs
DEN: S + one solid B (Murray) + two really good Cs (Gordon/MPJ)
GSW: S + A
MIL: S + two Bs
LAL: Bron was still an S here... was AD an S at this point? Two Ss?
TOR: A + two Bs (Lowry/Siakam)

 

[Guru of Nothing]

I was told there would be no algebra!

 

[rjv]

kevin o'connor will forever be selling the point that the spurs should have picked Knuepel.

 

[spurraider21]

kevin o'connor will forever be selling the point that the spurs should have picked Knuepel.

he's in too deep now. has to keep going.

 

[Guru of Nothing]

For a second there I was confusing Kevin O'Connor with Kevin O'Keefe.

 

[rjv]

he's in too deep now. has to keep going.

true. he's gonna go down with the ship.

 

[ambchang]

KoC is wRiGhT, if the Spurs drafted Kon we'd be on pace to win 80.

 

[Coyote2!]

he's in too deep now. has to keep going.

One could say that he's Nuepples deep

 

[NASpurs]

I'm on board the Harper hype train (not me in the picture)

 

[STAT88]

I'm on board the Harper hype train (not me in the picture)


View attachment 1351

That’s a funny juan

 

[MannyIG]

Y'all think the salary situation is rough to figure out now well wait until the Hawks lose in the play in this year, miss the playoffs, and send us the #1 pick in the draft.

 

[100%Duncan]

Great question... and it's tough, but here's my opinion:

• S-Tier. There are only 4 current members of this group. SGA, Jokic, Luka, Wemby. Giannis has fallen out, IMO. Having one of these guys is such an advantage, obviously, but not everyone can have one.
• A-Tier. These are your guys that are expected all-stars/All-NBA guys. For PGs, I think Brunson, Booker, Cade and Maxey are probably those guys, but I think there is some fair debate here. Outside of PGs, you have some other guys who maybe are a little more clear cut. Jaylen Brown, healthy Tatum, Ant, Dono Mitchell, etc.
• B-Tier. First, don't want to confuse this with "B-players" as that's not what I'm saying... but this is where I think Fox and Castle go. Harper isn't quite here yet but only because he is a rookie, but he projects to possibly ascend past this tier (and honestly, maybe Castle too).

If you don't have an S-Tier player, you absolutely need to have one or two A-tier guys if you want to be a legit title contender (like Boston's title run). But if the choice is between 1 A paired with 1 S... or 3 Bs paired with 1 S (what the Spurs have)... I'll take the diversification of the 3 Bs over the 1 A.

Sounds familiar tbh. Something something big 3

 

[Ariel]

I'm on board the Harper hype train (not me in the picture)


View attachment 1351

Vibes

 

[O_V]

Since there's nothing else going on, I'm watching highlight videos of rookies, and Cooper Flagg is really, really amazing, but I think Dylan Harper looks to be every bit as good a player. The only reason that I would even consider Flagg over Harp is because he's at a position of need for the Spurs.

They're both courageous on offense. They're mature beyond their years. Stupid athletic, really, really smart. Good on both ends of the floor. Clutch. What a great year for the Spurs to have the second pick.

 

[Kick-Stand]

I was told there would be no algebra!

Hey kimo, what's cal-cool-lus?

 

[Kick-Stand]

Y'all think the salary situation is rough to figure out now well wait until the Hawks lose in the play in this year, miss the playoffs, and send us the #1 pick in the draft.

Gotta get Peterson for that four PG lineup

 

[bozhemoi]

Since there's nothing else going on, I'm watching highlight videos of rookies, and Cooper Flagg is really, really amazing, but I think Dylan Harper looks to be every bit as good a player. The only reason that I would even consider Flagg over Harp is because he's at a position of need for the Spurs.

They're both courageous on offense. They're mature beyond their years. Stupid athletic, really, really smart. Good on both ends of the floor. Clutch. What a great year for the Spurs to have the second pick.

I'm gonna say that Flagg and Harper are both way, way better than the top of the list in this year's draft. Maybe even the top four of this year's crop are better.

 

[Paramore]