Wow. 1 - 9. And I don't have much faith in that turning around soon. Zion injured, again. #pelslife literally concussing ourselves. NAW played us again by having his 3rd year in a row of an amazing preseason that got our hopes up only to dud in the regular season. And where's Jax? Honestly, at this point, I think it's more likely Jax and NAW fizzle out than turn into regular rotational players. Lots of reasons to be miserable. But here is why I'm really excited long term about what I've seen in the first 10 games:
It looks like we have our future top 6 and possibly 7 spots on the roster figured out.
Let's skip the obvious "will Zion ever be healthy" argument...it's a worthy argument at this point but let's slot him and BI in as our top 2 all-stars and let's look at JV as the 3rd of our Big 3. It's totally possible for him to be that level. He was like runner up for an all-star in the past and if he was on a top team in the league, I think he would garner all-star discussion. Him and Zion SHOULD look beastly together and staggered from each other when Zion finally gets back on the court.....I mean.....imagine having one of JV or Zion on the floor all minutes of the game. Insane.
Herb Freaking Jones. Man. Herb. He's just a rookie. He is the level we were hoping NAW would reach. Not the same skillset, but the same level. He can easily be slotted on as a future starter at the least. So he's the 4th man. Easily.
Trey Murphy. He's been getting overshadowed by Herb but he's having the exact season he should have as a rookie. Showing all the right signs that he can be our 5th or 6th guy of the future. I say 6th because I just don't know how a starting lineup of Ingram, Jones, Murphy, Zion, JV would look. It seems like Graham would start with Murphy getting 6th man type min.
Which leads me to Graham. He's been up and down but, IMO, it's because he's been having to try to be the 2nd or 3rd man during this stupid start to the season. Once we get healthy and he can be the 5th/6th guy, I think he'll not just be good but great.
I said that I think we have our future top 6 or 7 because I'm 50/50 on Josh Hart. He absolutely is at a level to be the 7th man. That vet leader that's pushing the bench and bringing grit to the team. I just don't know if he gets traded with that contract of his.
And we still have Kira and Naji and others....and who knows, maybe NAW or Jax can finally put it together....but even if none of these players pan out, we FINALLY have a great starting 5 and 6th possibly 7th man moving forward into the next few seasons. In the past, we always had solid bench depth but not many top quality guys. Hitting on JV, Herb, Murphy, and Graham is course changing. This is huge and absolutely has me feeling optimistic about the next few seasons.