lol yeah as if that middle ground really means much either
over the past 20+ years it's not like most championship teams gradually get farther and farther until they finally win a championship. about the last time some team legitimately built from the ground up and made gradual improvements was the bulls. most other teams either had a massive free agency superstar splash, tanked (lol spurs), or had a series of good off-season moves
and don't underestimate the desperation (or stupidity) of other teams. just because we don't see the value of a player, doesn't mean other people see it the same. look at how much value a bum like antoine walker (coming off arguably his worst year where everyone saw how trash he actually was) netted for the mavs
dallas definitely has their flaws with team building, but they definitely have had plenty of success at making moves and eventually finding a good mix as well, otherwise they wouldn't have built a pair of finals teams around Dirk. most other teams don't even sniff that kind of limited success once during a stars tenure. I'd feel pretty confident some teams out there would be willing to take on guys like KP and jrich without hesitation