u/ATLCoyote

On one hand, I want the sport to grow in popularity in the US. It deserves more respect and admiration than it gets and this World Cup tournament is proof of that. Many of the games have been exceptional and filled with drama, the displays of skill and athleticism have been great, and the fan atmosphere has been tremendous. And when we have a bad performance, I can certainly accept the criticisms from the longtime fans that really know the sport and have been emotionally invested for years. Those fans deserve a moment to vent.

But I honestly don't wanna hear from the soccer-hating meatheads, including those in American sports media, who watch their first game in 4 years and start shitting on the USMNT the moment we lose.

For a little perspective, there have been 22 World Cup champions. 13 of those titles were claimed by Brazil, Germany, and Italy. Brazil just got eliminated in the same round that we did by a team ranked #31. Germany got eliminated in the round of 32 by a team that we beat 4-1 in the group stages, and Italy didn't even quality for the tournament and lost to the same Bosnia and Herzegovina team we just beat 2-0 despite paying with only 10 men for 37 mins.

And do the non-soccer fans have any idea how good Belgium actually is? This is a top ten team loaded with international stars who spent 3 1/2 years leading up to the last World Cup as the #1 ranked team in the world.

Also, can we just STFU with the LeBron James nonsense, as if we could just put NBA or NFL stars in soccer jerseys and they'd play better than the guys we've got? The best player in the history of the game is 5'7" tall and 160 lbs. It calls for an entirely different body type and requires dedication to developing elite skills from childhood. If it were just about strength and speed, Argentina certainly wouldn't be the defending champs, and if it were just about population, China and India wouldn't be ranked #91 and #136 respectively.

And where exactly do all these presumptions of American superiority come from anyway? It's easy to be the best at a sport that no one else plays like American football. But despite inventing the game, the US has only won the World Baseball classic once in 6 tournaments. We finally won a gold medal in ice hockey, but it was the first time in 46 years that we had done so. It's been 23 years since an American male has won a tennis major. In golf, Europe has beaten the US in 9 of the last 12 Ryder Cup tournaments. Only 1 American has won the Indy 500 in the last 10 races. Heck, even in basketball, we haven't seen an American NBA MVP since James Harden in 2018. Point being, even in the sports that we do care about, we're still not dominating. So yeah, it's gonna be kinda hard to dominate a sport played by 200 countries where it's the #1 national pastime in most of them, yet an afterthought in the US.

Granted, our record in those six matches, across all competitions, is only 3-2-1. So it doesn’t matter if we’re controlling the run of play if we can’t convert our chances and avoid the occasional defensive lapses that convert possible wins into losses or draws.

But, dating all the way back to the New England game, the team has started to gain an identity and confidence and generally looked like the better team for most of the game. Last night for example, we out-shot Orlando 21-7 and led in xG, possession, corners, tackles, you name it. And what I find encouraging over this stretch is that we’ve played most of it with just 1 DP on the field as ELL only started 2 of those 6 games.

Point being, we might finally be just a player or two away from contention. We’ve thought that before only to end up disappointed, so it’s on the front office to make the right moves this summer and finally produce a winner. But lately, we’ve been showing that this team can compete.

Granted, he's not anywhere near the elite, franchise player he was supposed to be when taken #1 overall by the Suns. But he's a solid 7-footer, he can create his own shot and is a good scorer from 15-feet in, he's good in the pick and roll, he's quick enough to switch and defend on the perimeter, he can alter shots around the rim, and he consistently averages over 10 rebounds per game despite only playing about 28-30 mins. Plus, he's only 27 years old and he played 72 games this year. And with OO, we could split his time and manage his workload.

His value is being overlooked because he's on a team with LeBron, Luka, and Reaves, but he brings a lot to the table.

There are no elite centers in this draft. So, take the best guard available and add an established player like Ayton to the front court.

It seems highly unlikely that he'll exercise his $8.1 million player option when he could easily make more by becoming an UFA this summer. Not sure how much money he'd expect, but if he hits the market, we should probably be involved.