So like.... are we too good to tank now?

Kyrie also won it with LBJ.

Before Duncan a number of #1 guys did; Robinson, Hakeem, Worthy, Magic, Walton, Kareem

Funny that 6 of these 9 guys were teammates. So I guess the key is to get TWO #1 overall picks.

 

Building a culture that tells our young players "you're not good enough to win, so lose on purpose and we might get someone who is good enough" is disgusting.

 

How the hell do the Lakers get two #1 overall picks in fours years while having 47, 60, 54, 57 wins.

 

Lebron didn't know about the trade and Donaghy acted alone.

 

No idea. But we don’t need all our players to become All NBA. A couple would be nice.

 

It’s just Duncan really since Cleveland had to reacquire LeBron as a free agent.

 

Kyrie didn’t do it for the team that drafted him. Robinson didn’t do it until late in his career with Duncan the main star.

 

When did the Lakers do that?

 

Huh? Kyrie was drafted #1 overall by the Cavs and won a title 5 years later.

 

Those are the win totals the prior seasons when the Lakers drafted Magic #1 in 1979 and Worthy four years later also as #1 in 1982

47, 60, 54, 57 wins

Here we are with 21 wins last year and end up with pick #7.

 

Only 3 of the 9 players did it without a fellow #1 overall pick teammate - Jabbar, Walton, Hakeem.

 

I am not even sure Jabbar did. He always had a PG who was drafted #1. (The Big O and Magic)

 

The vast majority of players with all NBA ceilings do not become all NBA.

 

I don't think anybody is suggesting the players should lose on purpose.

 

Funny - yeah your right Oscar was drafted #1 overall. This was a list of players drafted #1 overall and won a title with the team that drafted them. Oscar was drafted by the Cincinnati Royals (later renamed to the Kings) then traded to Kareems Bucks after Kareems rookie season. They won the title in Kareems second season which was only the Bucks franchise 3rd season.

 

So its really just Walton and Hakeem that won a title as a #1 overall pick with the franchise who drafted them - without a fellow #1 overall pick teammate.

Plus some random 80 year old Knick backup named Cazzie Russell.

It's crazy because the #1 overall pick is worth so much more than any other slot - you'd think its more correlated to titles.

I mean I guess it is correlated to titles - you just nearly always need TWO of those #1 overall picked players.

 

So I guess the lesson is if we somehow get a ton of losses the rest of this season - and then somehow win the lottery in a long shot like the Hawks last year and do end up with that #1 overall pick.....

Then we need to continue tanking for however many more years we can from 2026-2032 or so to get a second #1 overall pick.

 

The Lakers also had 3 #1 overall picks for many of those years with Jabbar/Magic/Worthy

The Cavs had FOUR #1 overall picks at one moment... LBJ/Kyrie/Bennett/Wiggins. Then traded Bennett and Wiggins for Kevin Love.

Wolves had #1 overall pick teammates last year (Towns and Edwards)

76ers in 2017 (Ben Simmons and Markelle Fultz)
Rockets in 1984 (Hakeem and Ralph Sampson)
Blazers in 1978 (Walton<injured> and Mychal Thompson)
Blazers in 1974 (LaRue Martin & Walton)
Pistons in 1970 (Jimmy Walker and Bob Lanier)
Knicks in 1964 (Jim Barnes and Art Keyman)
Bullets<Wizards> in 1962 (Bill McGill and Walt Bellamy)
Royals<Kings> in 1960 (Oscar Robinson and Bob Boozer)

Thats just where both #1 overall picks were teammates on the team that drafted them. Probably a lot more after free agency/trades.

 

We should have tanked deeper and harder. For longer than this.

You don't need to have a #1 pick. But you need more talent across the board and you need one or two of those players to become superstars.

Our only chance at building a legit title team here in Portland is tanking hard for 5+ years or to have among the best ownership, management, and coaching (culture) in the NBA.

Or just get incredibly lucky like Milwaukee and Denver did, and pray management doesn't screw it up.