buzzdog
Hall-of-Famer
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Bottom line when push comes to shove you go with the guys with the hot hand and the matchups that are working that particular night. But the NBA season is a long one. Good teams ice some players for awhile then pull them out and the guys end up winning them a playoff series.Sorry, I got lazy in my wording, I should have referred to it as starter-type minutes. IMO, if a team is going to invest three consecutive high lottery picks, then during crunch-time, they we better be able to take advantage of all three of them. If we can't consistently trust a lineup that consists of Collin/Darius/Isaac at the same time, then I think that's a major concern.
To your point, there will be games where that combination works fine thanks to the particular lineup the opponent is trotting out there down the stretch. But the name of the game is exploiting mismatches, and I don't believe that we will see many games that really matter where the opponent trots out a lineup where Sexton/Garland/Okoro can share the floor without running into a mismatch.
You're oversimplifying to act like we need a set top 5 players to start and then play crunch time minutes. Today's NBA doesn't quite work that way, very few guys play all the minutes even in critical minutes. You simply have to have different options because teams can shut down just about any given player or any given player can be having an off night when all the chips are on the table.
Talent wins, period. You should never give away talent unless you think you're getting equal or better talent back. I'm not opposed to trading sexton, Garland, Allen, Okoro, or anybody else as long as you get something truly equivalent in return. I think people undervalue Sexton here because of fit while they understate his value in terms of offense and effort/example.
As a general rule I prefer the stereotype players, guys with length/athleticism/skills. Neither Sexton of Garland fit the stereotype but they've won me over with other qualities. It's up to Koby and JBB to either figure put how to utilize their talents and surround them with complimentary players, or to make trades that bring back better combinations of fit and talent.