Top of the pile The once proud Sixers. They lose at the end while GS wins at the start middle and end.
You realize that we have to have good group of young players to make the playoffs? Like someone else said, we got the 11th pick. How exactly would Meyers Leonard have accelerated our rebuild? I don't think being a lot worse as a team is worth adding a Jamal Murray or whoever. Just go look at 5th overall picks in the past few years.. Not flattering
To win the battle but lose the war is a bad strategy. Getting monkey-stomped in the first round by the Spurs or Warriors does this team absolutely no good in the long (or short) term. It won't attract free agents, it won't really be much of a confidence boost, and it does more to harm this team's chances of building a team that will ever have any hope of getting out of the first round.
The only way this team should make the playoffs if if they somehow got HCA (not to be confused with HCP). That would mean they were far better than we think they are. This team needs most of all, a top 3 pick. I say top 3 because they arent attracting a big name FA, and the days when game changers get traded among franchises has pretty much stopped.
LOL, we win a few and playoff talk arises from the ashes: Talk to me after the end of the next 24 games which will be exactly the halfway point of the season. @ Los Angeles Clippers Dallas Mavericks Indiana Pacers @ Minnesota Timberwolves @ Milwaukee Bucks @ Cleveland Cavaliers @ Phoenix Suns New York Knicks New Orleans Pelicans @ Oklahoma City Thunder @ Orlando Magic @ Miami Heat @ Atlanta Hawks @ New Orleans Pelicans Cleveland Cavaliers @ Sacramento Kings Denver Nuggets @ Utah Jazz @ Denver Nuggets Memphis Grizzlies Los Angeles Clippers Golden State Warriors Oklahoma City Thunder Utah Jazz
It looks like this year, a .500 team has a pretty good shot at making the playoffs in the West. And I still think Portland will finish around .500. They are 1-4 in close games this year, so they could easily be above .500 right now.
Also, consider the fact that we are getting Brook Lopez, as Kingspeed with his inside sources revealed.
Nice post. Except its wrong. The losing had nothing to do with us acquiring Dame. It got us Meyers Leonard.
I think he means that the Blazers were entitled to the Nets pick, so even tho it sucked that they lost, there was a good chance they were getting 2 lotto picks anyways. We're just lucky that the Nets went 6, and no one else wanted to pick Damian that early (including a LOT of us fans)
However the season finishes its unlikely we get a top3 pick. Even the team with the worst record has the most likely draft slot of picking #4. There is no chance we can be as bad as the worst few teams in the league. We won't be able to get that many ping pong balls so our odds are lower. So its very unlikely we pick in the top3. Picks 6-14 most likely won't give us a quality starting level player. Its possible; but there's far more cases of draft selections falling short of that tier than meeting it. The times I think its stupid to win games is when you have an older mediocre roster with little upside. Then adding overpaid veterans for a few wins makes no sense. Better to trade those best veterans and rebuild. Our team isn't in that scenario at all though. Our team is full of players who haven't entered their prime, we have $20 million in salary room for the current season, so there is lots of built in upside. Sure I'd be interested in having a draft pick, but I think this roster will likely have more value if they can make the playoffs. Yes its a bit of a gamble either way; and all strategies are unlikely to win a championship; but I think thats the best long term sustainable team building mindset. It will help in recruiting for free agents. Players always prefer to go to teams that won. Thats how the Bucks got Monroe, the Raptors Demare Carroll. Now do I think we should trade for an aging veteran to make a playoff push? No! Thats would be a shortsided move. But all the players here can contribute with Dame long term. Dame and CJ have become one of the most elite scoring backcourts in the league. If this team is lucky enough to make a playoff push they should go for it. If things don't work out and we lose a ton of games a lottery pick is a consolation prize. But the pick shouldn't be the goal. The team will be in a better position to win down the road if we make the playoffs this year than if we add a lottery pick in the 6-14 range.
I swore we traded Wallace to NJ for their pick that got us Dame. Sent from my Baller-Ass 5.5" iPhone 6+......... FAMS
Yeah; thats why I was rooting for the NETS to lose every game that year. Or when you say "we" are you a Nets fan?
The Blazers are getting better, playing some exciting basketball, and with Leonard back we are going to be in every game, and win more of them. The playoffs are a possibility.
We would gain two second round picks though. Sure I'd rather have a middle of the first round pick but there is a small future benefit.
There are very few impact players available in FA next summer, and with the increase in the salary cap half the teams in the league will be all over them. In a word, FA is a delusion. Trading or drafting are exponentially more realistic.
That is true - IF you believe trading away vets for the Nets pick had nothing to do with the losing. You can't separate the two. The trade that netted Dame also caused more short-term losing.
Acquiring the Nets pick that we used to draft Lillard had nothing to do with how much we won or lost that year. It was simple asset accumulation. Brooklyn was foolish to accept that trade.
