In Reply to: ICYMI, Merkle and Crooks Are Gone …… posted by MANTIS9 on April 20, 2026 at 13:10:11
Until she proves me wrong, I don't see Betts as anything but a 5. I think she'll be a great 5, but she's a 5. So, for me, for budgeting purposes, I thing the big cash is better spent on someone that does something else. Muse is the back up 5. And, I'm in a minority on this I'm sure, but I think that at 6'3" Timea and Bilic have the size to slide over and handle spot minutes at the 5.
So, I think money spent on Crooks or Merkle would have been a bad decision. (I assume Merkle is a 5?, if not, I retract my statement). The big cash would be better spent elsewhere.
If we're talking minutes management, we need a player that can play the 3 or 4.
Cori said she wanted to bring in 5-6 players in the portal. We've brought in 3, I think. None of whom would be budget busters.
She's got to have some money in her war chest. I'm hoping she's going to get a star at the 3. And, if she could bring in a back up bigger but mobile player, we'd be in good shape.
Re: Muse, I watched a highlight reel on her. Seems like her money was made getting low post position and scoring over smaller players. That will be tough at this level. But, you know, don't base anything off of me watching a highlight reel. And, to be fair, my guess is that she was fed the ball in the post, back to basket, maybe four times this season so who knows? She's got 6 months to work on post moves.
She definitely needs to get stronger. Needs to work on her jumping - she never got more than a few inches off the floor from what I could see.
Lastly, I admit that I am wont to post crazy opinions, this may be the craziest one yet. When I see her shoot FT's, it looks like she has a nice stroke. She didn't shoot a high% on FT's, but she always looked nervous. My crazy opinion is I think she has a chance to be a +33% 3pt shooter. Betts wants the green light, Bilic needs to improve, and we'll absolutely need Gardiner's shooting. Hopefully the 4 bigs on the roster can work together on their 3's this offseason.