Why don't we trade for someone else's top pick? That is how it's done. Would Washington take Batum, Felton, and Matthews for John Wall?
Duncan was drafted in 1997. Ever since then, there have been 42 lottery picks and none of them won a title for the team that drafted him but Darko.
The Finals ain't enough for me. I want a title. And usually, that means trading for another team's stud.
How's that working out for the Knicks? Most teams that trade for or sign FA studs are markets that those players want to go to.
Well we can't offer our first because we sent a 2013 pick to Charlotte. And even if we could, the answer would still be no.
Oh luck is absolutely important for sure ... I just think all this talk that teams that are winning championships without drafting their guys is just baseless. The trouble is that there's been only a handful of teams actually winning it over the past 15 years or so (well forever actually) and the list you come up with goes like this: Lakers: (drafted Kobe -- sorta) Spurs: (drafted Duncan, Parker, Ginobli) Mavs: (drafted Dirk Diggler) Miami: (drafted Wade) Bulls: (drafted Jordan and Pippen) Rockets: (drafted Hakeem) Celtics: (drafted Pierce) The common thread? Every team that's won (minus the Pistons) needed to draft a superstar caliber player (or two) before they could surround them with the right mix of trades and role-players to compete. The moral of the story is that you must find "that guy" in the draft -- doing it through trades and free agency without having "that guy" first just doesn't happen.
Mavs didn't draft Dirk. Bulls didn't draft Pippen. But what about the 41 out of 42 players from 98 to now who didn't win anything?? The lottery didn't produce a single title for the winning team.
Well we have our pick this year, which I don't think we can trade because of CBA rules, and the cash rules changed as well (not sure what they are) So in reality, no. For arguments sake, would you trade Aldridge for a below average PG who can opt out, and two role players?
And the Celtics were going nowhere with Pierce. They had to trade for the 2004 NBA MVP in order to win a title. Minnesota was meanwhile, left high and dry.
For all intents and purposes they did. Just like for all intents and purposes, we drafted Aldridge and Roy
It's all a huge gamble. You can roll the dice on tanking for the lotto and fail forever. Look at the Clippers for basically the franchise's entire history before Griffin. And even with Griffin I'm not sure they're really on the career path to contending. It's all about risk/reward. To me the surest bet, even now, to elevating to contention is to hope Oden recovers. Yeah, it's a big joke at this point, I know. But there's little risk in retaining him even now, and there's still the potential to have an elite-level center. Maybe not "Dwight Howard"-level, but maybe Alonzo Mourning or Dikembe Mutombo-level. Which next to Aldridge would be an absolute terror. Even if only for a year or two before the next inevitable Oden injury. It sucks because it's the kind of gamble that doesn't actually require you really do anything except have a mediocre team. Fans want to see progress. They want to see pieces traded. Tear it down, gamble on the lottery! That means dealing Aldridge for picks, because you'll never get a decent lottery pick with him producing 35-40 win seasons. But what if you do trade Aldridge and Oden comes back healthy? Do you scramble to put pieces around Oden, hoping his knees hold out long enough for you to contend? Is that version of Oden enough? And if so, how much luck has Orlando had with Howard? That's what Portland would be, except surrounded by rookie and "upside" players. Oden's window may be only a season or two, and if you don't maximize that you've REALLY blown your chance. Portland is a lot different from Chicago in 1999. We've got this little potential ace-in-the-hole that they didn't have. He probably won't pan out, and we're probably fucked. But when I weigh that against the decades-long soul-crushing process of filtering through Currys and Chandlers and Wiliamses in search of the next Rose, I'll take my chances with mediocrity.
