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Ricky Rubio - Take the Money and Limp

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It often feels to me that Cleveland fans live in constant fear of "don't do anything to make them want to leave."

Regardless of the sport, this is always coming up. So many Tribe fans still think the franchise is about to move. People freaked out about Baker's contract extension all of July, and he's signed through 2023.

Coaches should make decisions that put their team in the best position to win. Once a team wins more games than they lose, players will want to stay in Cleveland.

Put winning first. You might just find out Sexton puts winning first too.

I think Sexton puts winning first on any team for which he is playing at the time. But I also think he'd much prefer to be putting up wins while playing for a team where he is a starter, and getting a starters minutes.

Kid loves to play, and he's going to choose an option where he gets max playing time. Whatever label you want to put on that, he's going to play fewer minutes here as the third guard than he will as a starter somewhere else.
 
Unless we trade Larry, I'm happy with him playing "big wing" minutes with Okoro while one of Sexland is out. How else are we getting min for Larry? Wade can play 3 and D at either forward position as a backup for spacing. He credibly guarded wings like Tatum on the perimeter. Prob not Giannis. Larry or Mobley for that.

Start your young core and make your bench kick ass with experience so Nance, Rubio or Love can come in and settle things down if necessary.

Mobley creates so much defensive versatility, that you don't have to ask too much of Larry or Okoro anymore. They won't be punching above their class.
 
We need shooting big time. Nance at SF and Okoro at 2-guard means two non-shooters on the floor (unless Okoro makes a spectacular leap this year). It's what we've got, I get that, but the offseason isn't over and I'm still hopeful we can find a way to add a wing shooter or two.
 
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Unless we trade Larry, I'm happy with him playing "big wing" minutes with Okoro while one of Sexland is out. How else are we getting min for Larry? Wade can play 3 and D at either forward position as a backup for spacing. He credibly guarded wings like Tatum on the perimeter. Prob not Giannis. Larry or Mobley for that.

Start your young core and make your bench kick ass with experience so Nance, Rubio or Love can come in and settle things down if necessary.

Mobley creates so much defensive versatility, that you don't have to ask too much of Larry or Okoro anymore. They won't be punching above their class.

I still wonder how they are going to get enough spacing if they plan to start Okoro, Mobley, and Allen. I hope Okoro makes a leap with his 3pt shooting. Rookies rarely shoot well so expecting Mobley to making the adjustment to the NBA 3pt line and improve from his 30% in college seems like a tall order.

The concentration of what positions we have 3pt shooter poses problems. I think we might have problems keeping 3 good 3pt shooters on the floor at all times.
 
Okoro should be our SF moving forward. The other options are not as good.

I think Okoro is best at sg, especially if he learns to shoot, but that was not the question. I am responding to a back court of Okoro/Garland....in this case who is our sf?

My point is we dont have any other worthy sf.
 
I think Okoro is best at sg, especially if he learns to shoot, but that was not the question. I am responding to a back court of Okoro/Garland....in this case who is our sf?

My point is we dont have any other worthy sf.

First, the off-season is two days old. Let's see what happens.

Secondly, Nance makes a ton of sense to me as starting SF. I'll go ahead and point out he had the most value around the league at the deadline. Why is that? Probably because he switches defensively, spaces the floor well enough for his size, and passes extremely well.

I'm way past this idea of strict lines between SF and PF. It's all groupings on the court and if they create an advantage. They tried Sexland, the defense wasn't good enough to win games.

They still aren't sure how to best use Okoro, but they were getting somewhere at the end of the season when he initiated out of the pick and roll more often.

Bottom line for me is that a variety of starting combinations might work... let the coach decide which one wins games without the stereotypical Cleveland fan overreactions.
 
First, the off-season is two days old. Let's see what happens.

Secondly, Nance makes a ton of sense to me as starting SF. I'll go ahead and point out he had the most value around the league at the deadline. Why is that? Probably because he switches defensively, spaces the floor well enough for his size, and passes extremely well.

I'm way past this idea of strict lines between SF and PF. It's all groupings on the court and if they create an advantage. They tried Sexland, the defense wasn't good enough to win games.

They still aren't sure how to best use Okoro, but they were getting somewhere at the end of the season when he initiated out of the pick and roll more often.

Bottom line for me is that a variety of starting combinations might work... let the coach decide which one wins games without the stereotypical Cleveland fan overreactions.

No to Nance, backup at PF/C, dont like him starting actually, helps bench.

100% on the season being only 2 days old, we need length on the wings for sure
 
So then the starting lineup is Garland/Okoro/???/Mobley/Allen. Unless the Cavs pull a rabbit out of their hat and land a great offensive SF, I just don't see how that's a functional lineup offensively. Doesn't feel like it's putting any of our young guys in a great position to develop and succeed.
Yes. SF is obviously the glaring weak spot on this team and the #1 item we need to address moving forward. I assume that, between free agency and the trade market, we'll do something to make it passable until we figure out a better solution.

I'd play Nance there right now until we find a better option.

I don't think sticking Okoro out of position is putting him in a great position to develop and succeed.
 
I think it's premature to assign Okoro as a natural SG or exclusively a SG

The guys that burned him while he was at SF burn everyone(LeBron, KD, etc)
Some of the good games he played at the end of the year, yes he played at SG because of injuries, but it may have been the guys who were out + the experience of the season that led to his more aggressive play, not the fact that he was at SG instead of SF.

I'm certainly open to him being a SG longterm, a SF longterm, or simply a modern NBA wing but I think it is premature to act like he is without a doubt only a SG or only a SF
 
Yes. SF is obviously the glaring weak spot on this team and the #1 item we need to address moving forward. I assume that, between free agency and the trade market, we'll do something to make it passable until we figure out a better solution.

I'd play Nance there right now until we find a better option.

I don't think sticking Okoro out of position is putting him in a great position to develop and succeed.

Is Okoro a bigger defensive liability at SF, or a bigger offensive liability at SG? Given his skills...I'd rather play him at SF and back him to hold his ground on D than play him at SG and count on him to create offense.
 
I think Sexton puts winning first on any team for which he is playing at the time. But I also think he'd much prefer to be putting up wins while playing for a team where he is a starter, and getting a starters minutes.

Kid loves to play, and he's going to choose an option where he gets max playing time. Whatever label you want to put on that, he's going to play fewer minutes here as the third guard than he will as a starter somewhere else.
I think even though the issues with the smaller back court defensively are warranted, this org has done little to address it so far , sure didn't go get somebody in the late first like they could have. I don't think there is any interest in the front office to break up the pair and Sexton is not coming off the bench at all.
I bet right now barring trades this is the starting line up:
Garland
Sexton
Okoro
Mobley
Allen
Bench:
Rubio or Dotson
Windler or Osman
Nance or Stevens
Wade or Kabengele
Love or Hartenstien
Thomas
Vaudrin
 
Is Okoro a bigger defensive liability at SF, or a bigger offensive liability at SG? Given his skills...I'd rather play him at SF and back him to hold his ground on D than play him at SG and count on him to create offense.
He's too small to play as an NBA SF. What's the point in trotting out someone who's like 6'4" or 6'5" and asking him to defend guys who are 6'8" or 6'9" every night?

I don't think Okoro is an offensive liability--he started to come on as last year progressed, and I expect that to continue. If he never figures it out, fine--you have another defective/limited player and you look to get someone who can fill that role better.
 
He's too small to play as an NBA SF. What's the point in trotting out someone who's like 6'4" or 6'5" and asking him to defend guys who are 6'8" or 6'9" every night?

I don't think Okoro is an offensive liability--he started to come on as last year progressed, and I expect that to continue. If he never figures it out, fine--you have another defective/limited player and you look to get someone who can fill that role better.
1. That doesn't happen every night.
2. Some of those dudes who are that tall will score at ease on ANYONE
3. It just feels premature to make this call on him after a rookie season in which there was literally about 2 weeks between the draft and training camp, coming off a covid shut down college season.

We will know so much more after year two and you may be proven correct after another 82 games.
 
1. That doesn't happen every night.
2. Some of those dudes who are that tall will score at ease on ANYONE
3. It just feels premature to make this call on him after a rookie season in which there was literally about 2 weeks between the draft and training camp, coming off a covid shut down college season.

We will know so much more after year two and you may be proven correct after another 82 games.
You're right that not every single team has that sort of size at SF--but a lot do, and most of the playoff teams do/will (if/when we get there).

The fact that someone like Durant, LeBron, etc scores on everyone doesn't mean we shouldn't try to defend him with size. They can score on anyone, but they can score more easily on someone who isn't physically able to match up with them.

I guess we can wait to see if he hits a growth spurt--but I'm not banking on it. I'm not sure what a lack of offseason has to do with his size.

I think Okoro can be a good wing in this league and be a problem for opposing 2-guards on the defensive end. I'd like to put him in that role so he can thrive and grow, rather than ask him to play out of position because we don't have any other options.
 

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