Teams whose fortunes have fallen farthest in the last 12 months

[bondom34]

Again, just don't see it.
Last season there was hopes that Teletovic would be an asset, there were hopes that Plumlee would be a top 30 center, there were expectations that JJ and Deron would be legitimate starters. Now the "youth" is Bogdonovic and two late pick rookies, meanwhile still making payments.
Cap space is worthless without foundation. Nets are now basically striving to treadmill until 2019. The KG trade obviously turned out well, but you could argue that a 1st round pick would be better for them. Having an additional pick + cap space to sign guy (like Thad Young) would have done more good for building a team.

They got massively younger and massively cheaper and had no hope of being actual contenders. The picks were a sunk cost, they at least started a build.

1. the Vegas lines were at about 42 wins for Bky. So they were expected to be a playoff team pretty easily, but not a contender.
2. There was a bull case for the Nets being pushed, which was basically, the east is weak and the cavs might be a year away; they are coming of a trip to the 2nd round, we are getting a healthy brook lopez and we are probably going to see Williams bounce back.

I get the Nets owed a lot of money, and were unlikely to be real contenders, but the young talent is not all that talented and they owe their next 3 picks so it's not like they have a clear path to a rebuild.

They can't draft stars because they don't have picks, they can't trade for stars because they don't have assets... so they're only shot is signning FAs with cap space, but they are going into the worst offseason to try to do that because LAL, NYK and everyone else is going to have cap space.

I think you are underrating where they were in 2014 and overrating where they are now.

Nope, just look at it differently. A year ago:
They were deep deep deep in the tax with no sight of getting out.
Old.
Predicted for that .500 record in the crappy east.
No shot at improvement.
Owing a ton of picks.
No youth.


They had zero future, no matter what. And in the last year, instead of looking at that and saying "well its hopeless, lets just sit on what we've stuck ourselves with", they tried to dig out. And they're not there yet, but they started. And sometimes thats the hardest step.

[Texas Chuck]

yeah and getting out of the tax hole is one pretty nice step towards finding new ownership which might be the best thing that could happen to them.

The picks are long gone so thats irrelevant. They kept their best 2 players, another solid role player, and added a couple kids. While also getting out of the tax and removing the negative presence of D-Will. I don't see how anyone can say they aren't in better shape.

They are in terrible shape, mind you, but its better than I think any of us realistically expected. We treat Billy King as a punching bag so I'd hope those people who engage in that pastime also would have the decency to give him credit for doing some things right.

[A BETTER DJ]

Zinger is a freak of nature, I understand why the smart fans on the Magic forum wanted him so badly. But hey the fans of the 76ers, T-Wolves & Lakers will cry the loudest. Bottom line is a 7'2" guy who is a gym rat and can stroke the basketball. But hey j-ragg keep the doubt going and hope you enjoy the taste of humble pie. As Zinger becomes the NEXT big thing in the NBA.

I think more than half of "smart" Magic fans wanted Mario... and we got him. Most of us had fear that KP would get broken before he ever had a chance to bulk up and build up his "core". With that slim frame I don't know how many times he can stand up to a legit big barreling his way to the hole. I have a vision of LeBron putting his shoulder down and taking KP out for the year on his way to a gifted and 1.

[AmareNY]

So suprised a few forum members never heard of a strength & conditioning coach. By the way every NBA has them. [wink] Porzingis is athletic & not afraid to mix it up. Throw in he is over 7'1" and has a great shooting stroke. He will be the next BIG thing in the NBA.

[bondom34]

So suprised a few forum members never heard of a strength & conditioning coach. By the way every NBA has them. [wink]

I think everyone has heard of them. I don't know of anyone who hasn't.

[AmareNY]

So suprised a few forum members never heard of a strength & conditioning coach. By the way every NBA has them. [wink]

I think everyone has heard of them. I don't know of anyone who hasn't.

Then how come people think that KP will never get stronger or add on weight? Wait I remember when people said the same thing about KD. He was too thin & not strong enough to compete in the NBA. How did that turn out? [smile]

[bondom34]

So suprised a few forum members never heard of a strength & conditioning coach. By the way every NBA has them. [wink]

I think everyone has heard of them. I don't know of anyone who hasn't.

Then how come people think that KP will never get stronger or add on weight? Wait I remember when people said the same thing about KD. He was too thin & not strong enough to compete in the NBA. How did that turn out? [smile]

Literally zero people here have said that, and people have even liked the pick.

[AmareNY]

You should read a few pages back then and read up above a few posts... about LeBron killing KP on one single drive. [smile]

[Golabki]

yeah and getting out of the tax hole is one pretty nice step towards finding new ownership which might be the best thing that could happen to them.

The picks are long gone so thats irrelevant. They kept their best 2 players, another solid role player, and added a couple kids. While also getting out of the tax and removing the negative presence of D-Will. I don't see how anyone can say they aren't in better shape.

They are in terrible shape, mind you, but its better than I think any of us realistically expected. We treat Billy King as a punching bag so I'd hope those people who engage in that pastime also would have the decency to give him credit for doing some things right.

Getting out of the tax is a big deal and does help the ownership a lot but I'm not sure it helps the teams prospects of winning all that much.

Paying d will to go away is hard for me to accept as a great move. It basically d will letting them off the hook and really doesn't help them that much on the court.

I don't think this past year was bad, I just don't think they've taken a major step forward ( unless you are thinking about it from ownership perscpective)

[AmareNY]

Zinger is a freak of nature, I understand why the smart fans on the Magic forum wanted him so badly. But hey the fans of the 76ers, T-Wolves & Lakers will cry the loudest. Bottom line is a 7'2" guy who is a gym rat and can stroke the basketball. But hey j-ragg keep the doubt going and hope you enjoy the taste of humble pie. As Zinger becomes the NEXT big thing in the NBA.

I think more than half of "smart" Magic fans wanted Mario... and we got him. Most of us had fear that KP would get broken before he ever had a chance to bulk up and build up his "core". With that slim frame I don't know how many times he can stand up to a legit big barreling his way to the hole. I have a vision of LeBron putting his shoulder down and taking KP out for the year on his way to a gifted and 1.

example #1

[bondom34]

Zinger is a freak of nature, I understand why the smart fans on the Magic forum wanted him so badly. But hey the fans of the 76ers, T-Wolves & Lakers will cry the loudest. Bottom line is a 7'2" guy who is a gym rat and can stroke the basketball. But hey j-ragg keep the doubt going and hope you enjoy the taste of humble pie. As Zinger becomes the NEXT big thing in the NBA.

I think more than half of "smart" Magic fans wanted Mario... and we got him. Most of us had fear that KP would get broken before he ever had a chance to bulk up and build up his "core". With that slim frame I don't know how many times he can stand up to a legit big barreling his way to the hole. I have a vision of LeBron putting his shoulder down and taking KP out for the year on his way to a gifted and 1.

example #1

Before he ever had the chance. That's not saying he won't that's saying right now.

[winter_mute_13]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13418755/the-phil-files-part-8-draft-day

Jackson projects that Porzingis will add at least 10 pounds of muscle before his first season commences, yet concerns still linger over his prize draft pick. "Like Shawn Bradley, who was nevertheless a pretty good player, KP might almost be too tall for the game. What I mean is that his core strength might never be good enough, and that he might not be able to get low enough to get himself into prime defensive position to body power rebounders or drivers."

Hmm, maybe somebody should tell Phil about strength and conditioning coaches.

[AmareNY]

10 lbs of muscle sounds like a lot of strength & condtioning work to me? Do that three off-seasons in a row and your talking about 30 lbs of added muscle. Now Pau Gasol & Dirk also had the same type of build, when they where first drafted. By the Lou Alcinder had the same type of build & hieght when he came out of college. He turned out to be pretty good. He was not too tall for the game lol

[bondom34]

10 lbs of muscle sounds like a lot of strength & condtioning work to me? Do that three off-seasons in a row and your talking about 30 lbs of added muscle. Now Pau Gasol & Dirk also had the same type of build, when they where first drafted. By the Lou Alcinder had the same type of build & hieght when he came out of college. He turned out to be pretty good. He was not too tall for the game lol

That's actually your GM saying that.

[AmareNY]

Phil was talking about one specific element of his game lol

Phil also went on to to say that Bradly in one year averaged 8 rebs & 3 blocks, What Phil was saying is that KP might never be a top notch rebounder... because of his size & core strength.

Now Mubarak Malik said on MSG that he was very impressed with KP lower body strength. Now upper body is a diffrent story. But the thing I love about KP is his work ethic, this guy is in the gym working on his body and his game every day.

[bondom34]

OK, so nobody said what you claimed they were, and the closest thing to anyone saying it was Phil. So you built a strawman and bulldozed it to no end.

[Xman]

NY is hoping he turns into Dirk. But, even Dirk had a learning curve. First year was a waste and 2nd year was transition to getting good.
So, no impact for 2 years + no draft pick next year + a roster full of defensively challenged = a lotto pick for Toronto.
How much longer will Melo be there? How good will he be in three years?