You still don't get it. I'm not saying we don't compete. I have said before that I love that we compete night in and night out. I'm saying we're not competitive, meaning we're not a playoff team so why are we chasing wins by playing Brogdon ahead of Scoot? Do you actually think this team could beat any of the top teams in the west in a 7 game series? So you'd be in favor of pushing to make the playin or the first round only to get blasted?
I have no problem with playing Grant or Ayton, but I don't understand keeping Brogdon once Simons comes back. If the team continues to win with Scoot and Simons and Sharpe playing big minutes, that's great. We're ahead of schedule, but giving big minutes to guys who don't fit into the long term future of this team at the expense of our young guys is just plain silly.
I don’t understand where the hold-up is either. I share the same frustration as you man lol, but there’s no point in trying to convince anyone of our position on the direction.
I do think Brogdon is the one vet that should be gone by the deadline. He’s playing the good soldier but knows his best days aren’t meant to be spent on a non-contending team when he himself could change the 3-6 positions in the east, depending on the team he went to. We can only hope for the best package when he’s gone, so I hope he chooses a destination that can actually give us among the best packages for him.
The question is really when to trade Grant. Personally, I don’t see a point in trading him until there is more of a debate at the starting forward spots, and we currently don’t have a crop of forwards talented enough to depend on for that yet. Obviously, if a huge package is offered, take the deal. If Schmitz can find two forwards with the 2 1sts and add some more excitement to the forward room, we can start to talk about trading him.
I’m lowkey at the point where I prioritize the players over picks when trading the vets though. I’m at a point of contention with myself seeing the effort leading to good results, so I understand why some people really want to go for it. I’m at the point where I really want to go for it soon too, but I know that gunning for a play-in appearance, particularly this season, would be foolish.
There are avenues for us to compete really soon though. It takes for a lot of things to go right, like
1) drafting the right forwards this summer (2 of Sarr, Buzelis, Swain, Castle, or Williams would be great)
2) getting the B(young)PA at forward for Brogdon
3) a lot of internal growth from Camara, Walker, Murray, and Rupert
But I think it could happen. I haven’t moved off my 2026 expectation for the playoffs. I think a lot of people would say that’s optimistic, but I feel more strongly about this due to the play of the young guys right now. It’s just all about having enough forwards to make it trading Grant a discussion point. With Scoot, Shae, and Ant, it makes sense to trade Brogdon for the most assets eventually. With Grant, the urgency to trade him is not there yet.