Sure....there are lots of ways. I'm not contending that is any one and only solution. Just that the way it was going for the last half decade was a waste of time. Would have loved if they'd got more out of Powell and RoCo, but until this deadline and then the Draft, it's incomplete. Not off to a good start, but incomplete.
In that sense of things, everything's incomplete until the universe ends. It doesn't change the fact that we have a worse team today with even fewer assets to try to improve in the future than we did last week.
Cronin's ineffectualness at executing the tank doesn't change the perspective that it's the right thing to do given the situation.
I think you'd admit, though, that there are ways to mess up your tank job other than not being bad enough. Being bad enough but not having the assets to get yourself out of the cellar is probably the absolute worse thing that can happen.
Fortunately, Cronin's only made one crappy move so far. We still have assets, and still have the possibility of those assets being used wisely. Bledsoe could be dealt for a currently injured future contributor. CJ could be converted into a prospect and draft picks. The lottery pick could be offered up in the off season for a quality forward. The are all plenty of possibilities, the most significant of which is Dame returning healthy. Yes, there are definitely plenty of ways this tank can be driven into a ditch, but until/unless that happens, I'm holding to the opinion that it's the best option in the moment.
Why is losing with vets and having no hope for the future better than losing with young players? I'm not being sarcastic here. It is an honest question.
BTW, you can't really tank starting in Feb. We are hopelessly behind the teams that accepted this was going to be a bad year back at the beginning. Just another cost of dithering around over Olshey. He put the team on the wrong path and was too arrogant to admit his mistake. Now the mistake is unfixable.
In a sense, the trade also netted the Blazers a guaranteed lottery pick, and possibly a high one. The best play at this point is to build for the future by playing and developing the young guys. Who said anything about a tank?
We currently are terrible, horrible, horrific. Since that is the case, we mine as well get a decent draft pick.
Sucks to tabnk this year too, since I'm not a fan of the next draft at all (Holmgren, Smith and Banchero all have some red flags I dont like). Watch us pick Holmgren #1, see him blow his knee out and watch Ivey develop into a superstar.
We are rebuilding, we have no way to build a contender around Dame. Trading away two starters for 3 scrubs earning 11 million next year has closed any possible contending door. The team and some fans don't fully know that yet, but its done. Others of us are now fully on board with the tank because its the best chance the team has to add more talent.
Hey OMG good to hear from ya. Yeah, for me going totally young by trading Dame for picks, starting over hoping to develop youngsters like Houston & Thunder just seems like a long process with a number of years to even make the playoffs. If it doesn't work out to try and Build around Dame for the next year or two, Im not opposed to whatever direction whoever the gm/owner is.
For me just I dont want to give up on Dame now since he's committed to the city, fans and franchise. If he's been playing hurt maybe he'll be like new next season. Its not like he's 35/36 years old he's still got game.
We absolutely still had avenues to try to build around Dame if we wanted OR to have Dame around as part of the rebuilding process. And people just taking for granted that tanking is the best chance to add more talent is either wishful thinking or blindness or just being stuck in conventionality. I've addressed the reasons above, and I've also given examples above that contradict your contention.
Except we weren't terrible, horrible and horrific a week ago. We had two more players who were contributing and had the potential of being traded for pieces that could have helped us in the future when we had a healthy Dame back. The "decent draft pick" is short-sighted. What do you think the odds are of you finding something of major value in your septic system? Just because it's the difference between the 6th pick in the draft and the 10th pick in the draft doesn't mean you're going to get a Damian Lillard instead of a Meyers Leonard. It depends on the quality of said draft and also your scouting department's ability to identify someone who's slipped to your pick.
Truthfully, I'm starting to wonder. I thought it was pretty clear, but a number of posters seem to be trying to understate it, which is, to a degree, disputing it.
