kjkirby wrote:This no knock on Kobe, but the kids needed his farewell tour to be over to start to spread their wings. However, I do believe that some of his grit and determination has rubbed off on theses guys. It's still early and they're going to lose a lot of games late (Russell takes too many chances late in games), but they are going to be competitive. Ingram will be alright. This is exactly the environment that he needs to come along slowly. Eventually they will need a piece or two to contend for a title down the road (most likely a center, a dead eye shooter and a defensive lock down wing), but right now they are fun to watch. Soon they will be like that funny looking girl who took off her glasses and let her hair down, and you thought "damn she's not bad looking at all". The front office had nothing to offer free agents the last couple of years. Players are looking to be the missing piece with the potential to win. If the team keeps playing this way they should have no problem attracting free agents in the future. The problem is there may not be many spots left to fill.
The climb has finally begun.
Good morning kjkirby and welcome back to the fray! Great post and observations. Brandon Ingram is that lock down defensive wing of the future. He may not have the strength of Kawhi or Iggy or Roberson or Sefolosha, but he has more length, quickness and raw skill than any of them. I agree with 3Peat about Cousins, who his teammate, (Douchebag) Matt Barnes, implied is already eyeing the Lakers. We need the Queens to continue to suck, albeit they now have a solid head coach and a better roster than before. As for the dead eye shooter, we already have two for the future in Russell and Ingram. For now, Lou and Nick are doing their jobs keeping defenses honest from deep, but I agree that adding one more would be great and I still think that Clarkson will be the ultimate trade bait to land him, but he has to be one of those 3 & D types, not a Kyle Korver type.
They just entered the tunnel. All of us will know when they will start to see the light at the end of it, but it's not now. And yes, we can finally enjoy the climb!