I watched the game last night and all of the post-game commentary. I watched Jeff Van Gundy ask Mrs. Benson to make a stand up for small market teams by not playing AD and pay the fine. I read on this board posts by concerned fans that AD will get hurt (totally justified I might add). I saw the post game debate over whether AD is a victim or a villain. The only consensus anyone ever reaches is that AD will never win a championship in New Orleans.
As a die hard Pels fan, this season has truly been disheartening. It has shown me how the League and the country perceives this franchise. In this new age of "recruiting" in pro sports, how you are perceived is reality. if you are perceived as a joke, you will not be able to retain great or even very good players. At the moment, there is nothing we can do about this perception. Money can't even fix it. The more money we throw at it, the deeper the hole gets when we overpay and a guy really doesn't want to be here, gets injured, or just doesn't pan out.
Our superstar demanding a trade, the booing, the empty seats, AD playing 3 quarters and then sitting in the 4th of a tight game, questions about ownership and management, re-edited hype videos... everyone is talking about everything but the game. This is not a good look. The damage has been done. This will not be an easy or quick fix.
Having time to think, I have changed my mind about a few things. Trading with the Celtics for Jason Taytum will not fix this. As corny as it sounds, this franchise needs a savior. I am not 100 per cent sold on Zion but maybe he is the next LeBron. If so, he is the obvious target. We need to wait to see who has the number one pick and make the deal. I know it's a gamble, but at this point, we have nothing else to lose. And this is coming from a guy who won't even buy a scratch off.