A couple things here.I find this trend toward acquiring a semi-productive veteran only to sit him “to let the kids play” kind of odd TBH. Even after you factor in the contract stuff in the NBA, when you are shutting guys like Horford down it still seems like a super inefficient use of resources and kind of shitty to the player. I can’t imagine this is anything other than an unintended consequence of the CBA and wonder if they’ll address it going forward.
1. I don’t see how Kemba of this year and Horford of last are related at all. The latter was a veteran shutdown on a tanking team. We’ve all seen this in the past with some variations including shutting down our own Pierce in ‘06. The former is a team trying to make a deep playoff run and replacing an unproductive 31-yr old with a 30-yr who the coach is more comfortable with in his system.
2. I mentioned this yesterday but will reinforce here. What is shitty to a 35-yr old veteran is forcing him to travel to Milwaukee, Chicago, and Detroit in the dead of winter rather than allowing him to spend a few extra months home with his family until he is moved to a contender where he can make an impact all while being paid in full. If he were 25 yeah it would be shitty bc the player is trying to establish himself and at that age only wants to ball (with the few obvious exceptions)…..but it’s different when you’re 35 and have different priorities. Priorities that likely don’t include toiling on a 20-win team while going through the NBA grind and the risk of injury that could prevent him from being traded.