Are the lottery spots in the West frozen right now or could there be some stealth tanking between the Suns and Spurs for a better pick? If we crumble, does that improve our lottery position?
So if Suns move up the standings past the Spurs and Kings in the seeding games, they still get their good pick? Nice for them. I'd say the Spurs are in a good situation to then. They have the opportunity to make playoffs while still getting a good pick if they don't.
Actually, for the teams that don't make the playoffs, the seeding games count toward the lottery. So, if a team moves up or down the standings after the 8 games, and they don't make the playoffs, their final seeding will determine where they are in the lottery. It is not fixed. Only the draft order of those who make the playoffs are set based on the records as of March 11 when the NBA went on hiatus.
If we kept the pick we would probably want to go with Toppin or Ball if we didn't land at number one. Either guy could play on the wing, obviously Ball would need to put on some weight but could also back up Dame at the point. Toppin would make the most sense as a fit but Ball is probably the more exciting prospect. We definitely don't need Wiseman. Anthony Edwards is some kind of freak, he is an incredible two way player with freakish athleticism and strength, he can also shoot the ball, is supposed to be a good character guy and is considered the consensus number one pick. If we landed 1-4 we might want to trade it for a player that could contribute right now. Someone on their rookie contract that has already shown that they can contribute like maybe add a future pick and get Brandon Ingram. Maybe Olshey could pull off some kind of magic and get us Paul George for CJ and the pick. Those may be pipe dreams though. If we did get the first pick and didn't trade it I would take Edwards and trade CJ for maybe Tobias Harris. If we did that we would let Ariza walk.
That's false. The lottery positions will be set by team records before the suspension of the season. Source: https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2020/07/nba-moves-2020-draft-lottery-to-august-20.html If the Blazers miss the playoffs, they'll be 14th unless: One of Brooklyn/Orlando or Memphis misses the playoffs, in which case the Blazers would be 13th. One of Brooklyn/Orlando and Memphis misses the playoffs, in which case the Blazers would be 12th. Basically if we miss the playoffs, we should be rooting for the 9th seed in both conferences to win their play-in games.
Brandon Ingram is a free agent who will get a MAX contract. No chance we get him. Makes no sense for the Clippers to do that. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be any legitimate stars available this offseason. Harris at the 3 is worse than CJ, hes more of a 4 (stats back it up). Downgrading our top level talent to make room for a rookie with questionable outside shooting doesnt make much sense to me. If we got the top pick, the only feasible options would be to take Edward's to be our 3rd guard and a small-ball 3 at times, or to trade it down to 4 to take Toppin.
Idk where else to put this but our ideal offseason if we dont get lucky in the lottery would be: 14th pick (or whatever) for Bjelica and a SAC 2nd (Bjelica absorbed with TPE) Ariza and a future 1st (lotto protected) for Fournier Resign Whiteside Lineup: Starters: Lillard / McCollum / Trent / Collins / Nurkic Bench: Fournier / Hood / Bjelica / Whiteside Best bench in the league without using our MLE. Would have 3 guys off the bench who shot 40% from 3pt this year.
