Again, this post has a different feel with a different player:
The Artest comparison seems pretty deadly, especially if he has absolutely no worries but the drive. I saw that in the limited time on TV and here on the board. He'll fit in perfectly with Irving. He also knows how to run a team pretty well from my observation, so he'll be like a point forward on the floor when Irving has to sit or for attack measures.
But still.. to have a 40+% chance of having a true 1st or 2nd star (based on what I've seen and heard). 60% chance of having at least a superior 2nd option but more to the lines of the prime 2004 Pistons. And finally a 95% chance of having a true threat to take pressure off of Kyrie with one pick alone (although we have at least 5 different cards up our sleeves). And not in the disastrous way that Antawn attempted to do so.
The only thing stopping us from getting Davis (Prime KG), Beal (Prime Ray), MKG (Superior Artest), Robinson (Rahim), or Barnes (Prime Elliot) and having success is health. Once we get one of those guys, we should either attempt to get 1 more star through draft or trade (this year or next) or get at least 3 above average role players who can do things with and without the ball and can score. Additionally, another 2-3 role players who can fill in any necessary gaps as well (for this post with Beal).
<table><tbody><tr><th>String</th><th>Center</th><th>Power Forward</th><th>Small Forward</th><th>Shooting Guard</th><th>Point Guard</th></tr> <tr><td>Starters</td><td>Anderson Varejao</td><td>(Stretch Forward)</td><td>Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
</td><td>(Shooter)</td><td>Kyrie Irving</td></tr> <tr><td>Backups</td><td>(Offensive Big)</td><td>Tristan Thompson</td><td>(Shooter)</td><td>Alonzo Gee</td><td>Donald Sloan</td></tr> <tr><td>Thirds</td><td>(Defensive Big)</td><td>(Shooting Forward)</td><td>(Multifaceted)</td><td>(Multifaceted)</td><td>(Relief)</td></tr></tbody></table>
I heard finding a shooting forward is pretty easy nowadays, but it would be nice to defend with at least 10% more effort than Jamison. So getting a good defender who can create with the ball would be equally important as well at the 3. Otherwise, we could attempt to get a threat at center if Tristan ever develops his inner Ben Wallace within 2-3 years. But otherwise, this type of chart looks good for pairing with Beal. It's up to him to see if he can become the second coming of Pippen or a more polished Gerald Wallace (kinda makes you worried about concussions though...).