“Yes, we suffered a few times because I trusted him and I think it’s going to pay off in the end. What you see is what you get with him right now. In the film sessions, in practice, in the locker room, he’s stepping up. He’s holding guys accountable. He’s holding himself accountable. He’s owning it when he screws up. I’ve just been really proud of watching him trying to shoulder this.”

That quote from Fiz about TH2 shows that he gets it. He’s not gonna just call him the leader because of his paycheck. He’s gonna make everyone earn their keep. Putting Kanter on the bench is another example. If you’re a walking minus number you’re gonna need to take responsibility for that. He’s playing young guys, rewarding DEFENSE, and the team is much more competitive than years past. That and he’s not overvaluing wins (I can’t believe I just wrote that). He’s establishing habits and a culture.

I think we’re headed to a great draft pick and I think Fiz is gonna keep KP’s feet on the ground when he comes back. Two excellent players plus what we have may mean that next year we start sniffing playoffs.

We also are in position to add FA’s this summer. I think that’s where we’ll truly see if we’re headed in the right direction. My hope is not to give a max unless it’s KD. Otherwise, make some value signings and put the money back in your pocket. Accept incremental improvement.

His per 36 numbers are currently 25/15/6 on 66 TS%. Granted it’s a 40 min sample, but he clearly merits time on a playoff team over at least Domantas Sabonis (who has also been good.) He’s probably the best big on the team.

I may be missing something, but what good is holding on to his cap hold without his bird rights? You can’t go over the cap to re-sign him (like you can by holding onto Porzingis or Burke’s cap hold), so you might as well just renounce him and take the space.

If you give Vonleh a one-year deal at the room after using the cap hold, then you have Early Bird rights for him for the following season, and you could then pay him the mid-level.

But yes, if you renounce him, you could still give him a two-year room exception deal and get the same basic benefit.

Again, trying not to get too excited. Its just the Nets…but the fact that we had that nice 3 and a half quarters against The Warriors and then beat the Nets with this new starting 5…its promising, no? Even an old curmudgeon like Jowles has to be a little bit encouraged, no?