Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Being a playoff team for years in the NBA does not mean you are good.
Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Being a playoff team for years in the NBA does not mean you are good.
Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks are prime examples of this
Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Being a playoff team for years in the NBA does not mean you are good.
Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks are prime examples of this
Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Being a playoff team for years in the NBA does not mean you are good.
Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP) and Atlanta Hawks are prime examples of this
Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Being a playoff team for years in the NBA does not mean you are good.
Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks are prime examples of this
Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Being a playoff team for years in the NBA does not mean you are good.
Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks are prime examples of this
Blazers only have 4 straight playoff appearances, Grizzlies are at 7 and Hawks at 10 which is why I singled out those 2. But Blazers are also a good example.
All 3 of those teams (and some others) should quit now and become the next generation of tankers now that Sixers/Lakers/Wolves are stating to look up.
Hawks look like they're going to finally do that after dumping Howard, Millsap, and Hardaway Jr. this offseason and bringing in no one. But neither Grizzlies or Blazers are going anywhere besides the 6-8 seed range for the next few years, and neither will attract free agents. Worst place to be.
Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Being a playoff team for years in the NBA does not mean you are good.
Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks are prime examples of this
Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Being a playoff team for years in the NBA does not mean you are good.
Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks are prime examples of this
Not arguing to argue ... find me a material FA that has gone to OKC
Nobody ever said anything about a free agent signing there. It will never happen unless they give the max to a borderline all star.
Which means to me that they will eventually need a surplus of picks to get the kind of team/depth required to be relevant
If Westbrook leaves they are completely fucked for years and will need to make multiple good draft picks. Then they will have to wait for those picks to develop. Water is wet.
They did that. They had Westbrook, KD, The Beard, K-Mart, Ibaka, and Sefelosha. They all left but one.
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
Being a playoff team for years in the NBA does not mean you are good.
Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks are prime examples of this
Blazers only have 4 straight playoff appearances, Grizzlies are at 7 and Hawks at 10 which is why I singled out those 2. But Blazers are also a good example.
All 3 of those teams (and some others) should quit now and become the next generation of tankers now that Sixers/Lakers/Wolves are stating to look up.
Hawks look like they're going to finally do that after dumping Howard, Millsap, and Hardaway Jr. this offseason and bringing in no one. But neither Grizzlies or Blazers are going anywhere besides the 6-8 seed range for the next few years, and neither will attract free agents. Worst place to be.
So, yes but also no. The worst place to be is the Kings. Lottery pick after lottery and still not close to being a contender. Being a bottom tier playoff team has positives.
You look at the best teams and plenty weren't built on tanking. Rockets never tanked. The Warriors were bad but Steph was like the 8th pick or something. Draymond went in the second round. The old Duncan Spurs were a tank job but the current ones are built around Kawhi who they got in a trade for George Hill. Celtics haven't been built from tanking.
The way to build a contender is to be a good organization and get lucky. That's true whether you tank or not.
Blazers only have 4 straight playoff appearances, Grizzlies are at 7 and Hawks at 10 which is why I singled out those 2. But Blazers are also a good example.
All 3 of those teams (and some others) should quit now and become the next generation of tankers now that Sixers/Lakers/Wolves are stating to look up.
Hawks look like they're going to finally do that after dumping Howard, Millsap, and Hardaway Jr. this offseason and bringing in no one. But neither Grizzlies or Blazers are going anywhere besides the 6-8 seed range for the next few years, and neither will attract free agents. Worst place to be.
So, yes but also no. The worst place to be is the Kings. Lottery pick after lottery and still not close to being a contender. Being a bottom tier playoff team has positives.
You look at the best teams and plenty weren't built on tanking. Rockets never tanked. The Warriors were bad but Steph was like the 8th pick or something. Draymond went in the second round. The old Duncan Spurs were a tank job but the current ones are built around Kawhi who they got in a trade for George Hill. Celtics haven't been built from tanking.
The way to build a contender is to be a good organization and get lucky. That's true whether you tank or not.
I mostly agree... without a well run organization and some good luck you can't build a contender. Kings were the worst run organization in the NBA for the last decade or so until the Knicks decided to steal that crown recently. Bad draft pick after bad draft pick and trying to build around a shithead player like Cousins. Also, teams like the Celtics and Rockets are so well run that they made great timed strategic trades to get them to where they are now.
But I will say that tanking reduces the amount of luck a given team needs. Some of it can be attributed to great scouting, but it's so rare that those later draft picks like Kawhi, Greek Freak, or Draymond turn into superstars. I think it's much safer to go after high lottery picks as long as you fully commit to the tank.
Comments
#brevity
As the landscape sits now if you don't have a super team you are the farm league for one.
Look at Gayward to Boston. The Jazz have a really good young team built up that were going to be a playoff team for years and he bolted because Boston was a step ahead.
All 3 of those teams (and some others) should quit now and become the next generation of tankers now that Sixers/Lakers/Wolves are stating to look up.
Hawks look like they're going to finally do that after dumping Howard, Millsap, and Hardaway Jr. this offseason and bringing in no one. But neither Grizzlies or Blazers are going anywhere besides the 6-8 seed range for the next few years, and neither will attract free agents. Worst place to be.
You look at the best teams and plenty weren't built on tanking. Rockets never tanked. The Warriors were bad but Steph was like the 8th pick or something. Draymond went in the second round. The old Duncan Spurs were a tank job but the current ones are built around Kawhi who they got in a trade for George Hill. Celtics haven't been built from tanking.
The way to build a contender is to be a good organization and get lucky. That's true whether you tank or not.
But I will say that tanking reduces the amount of luck a given team needs. Some of it can be attributed to great scouting, but it's so rare that those later draft picks like Kawhi, Greek Freak, or Draymond turn into superstars. I think it's much safer to go after high lottery picks as long as you fully commit to the tank.