Exactly. Tanking is a bad move anyway, but tanking for this year’s draft is just stupid. The whole thing smells of desperation.
I'm not going to do the leg work for you but LeBron was by far the player with the most money coming from endorsements during his first stint with the Cavs and Kobe was still in the league with the Lakers. Giannis is fourth in the league right now in endorsement money and he's with the Bucks. I could give you more names but at a superstar level the national money is not related to the market size and it hasn't been. At one point Charles Barkley was the second highest earner in endorsements to MJ and was playing in Phoenix.
What if they're tanking to get the best asset possible because they are sure they are going to trade it? Regardless of what you think of this draft class and you seem to be at odds with the national pundits that say it's pretty strong, the higher our pick is the more value it has in a trade and the more options we have if we use it to draft someone. Therefore if we're not making the playoffs, not tanking is the only thing that can be stupid. This bullshit moral code that you seem to think exists is a figment of your imagination. I would consider Pop to be about as competitive and ethically driven as any executive in this sport and he did almost exactly what we are doing now, the year they got Duncan with very little hope that he was actually going to get Duncan. Pop just understood that he needed to attain the highest value asset he could if his playoff team was missing the playoffs that year, so they could be better going forward.
Popovich is an idiot, and I don’t care what he does. I remember many years ago reading about a guy from Eastern Oregon who drove three hours to a late-season Blazer game so his kid could see Magic Johnson play in person, only to realize when he got there that the Lakers were giving Magic the night off because they already had a playoff position locked up. I’ve never forgotten that. I believe NBA teams should put their best possible team on the floor every night because they owe it to their fans who buy the tickets and make the NBA a successful business. No Blazer fan should be expected to pay $50 for a seat and then watch the team get blown out by 40 because the organization is trying to lose.
I said without injury problems. And I think Ant is a better defender than CJ, as well as a more efficient scorer. I think Hart is also a better fit for Billups system than Norm. I think think we're almost certainly going to get at least one near starter level player out of our draft picks. Dame and CJ never really had trouble winning 48 games, and barring injury I don't that that'll be a problem for Dame and Ant either. It might even be easier with better defense...
What do you see as the upside to trying hard and getting bounced in the play-in/1st round? I'm typically all about winning, but this years seems fairly obvious to cash it in at this point. I see little upside in trying.
Exactly my point. Nobody is being surprised. The team isn't making as much money this season, but that's the choice they made. And the guys who are playing big minutes for Portland now are getting an opportunity to earn a contract for next season. No victims in this situation.
I’ve been watching the Blazers for over 50 years, and they’ve always “tried,” no matter what their record or their prospects for making the playoffs. Even in the early years, when they were very bad, they always tried. If you’re not trying to win, the game is a farce.
You missed my point. Fans should be able to buy tickets to any game and expect a full effort from the team and the organization. Otherwise it’s a fraudulent product.
I think they've been pretty open and honest about what's going on this season. Nobody is going to games surprised to see them lose. Doesn't seem like fraud to me at all. We lost our two best players this season, and the others have had injury problems they aren't willing to play through if we don't have a shot at making the playoffs. It happens to all teams sometimes. It hasnt happened here for a decade. Most teams aren't that lucky.
I also remember Spurs tanking and Pop was GM. Not only did he endorse tanking he later fired his head coach so he could be coach. Wouldn’t call him morally sound. Give him credit though he is damn good coach
These players are trying to win (see tonight). They're just not very good. If you've been watching for 50 years, you know this isn't the first time in franchise history we've shut guys down in the back half of the season,
Chauncey could barely keep a straight face tonight during his interview when Brook asked him about Simons and his “Injury” that is going to keep him out the next two weeks. It was an impressive performance for sure.
