Durant-28, Steph-29, Klay-27, Draymond-27 - - - - - let's call it quits

[blueadams]

This team.. The Golden State Warriors.. is sooo much better than the 2nd best team in the league. If they're not going to sweep the 2017 finals, it's only going to be because they don't need to. This team is young. It's going to stay together. It's not going to go away. Even if things go as *right as possible* for us over the next 3-4 years.. we're not going to be able to beat them.

We're not going to win an NBA championship.

And I know it's not realistic. And I know it's not going to happen. But man, I do not care about "improving" and hoping that LeBron gets injured so we can have the grand opportunity of being smoked in the finals someday.

I want us to tank. I want us to start tanking yesterday. I like SVG, and I'd like him to be the brains behind it.

Trade all our assets to bad teams for future 1st rd picks. I'd rather watch bad teams with hope than an okay team without any. We need at least 3 elite players to realistically compete for a title. This is the only way we're going to get them. Get three elite players through the draft.. figure out the rest later.

-Our own picks. Tank for the next 3 years, we'll have three great ones!
-Drummond. He'll get us a future 1st rd pick for sure.
-KCP. Resign him and move him.. he'll get us a future 1st rd pick for sure.
-Stanley. He'll get us a future 1st rd pick for sure.
-Tobias. He'd get us a future 1st rd pick for sure.
-Marcus. Could probably get a 1st rd pick for him.
-Reggie. Honestly, we could probably still get a 1st rd pick from someone for him.

...That's 9 1st rd picks we could (I think) easily acquire over the next three drafts. Target bad teams. Target picks two, three years from now --- GM's with one or two years left value those little. Hope that we can manage to turn all those picks into 3 elite players.

I know it almost never works. But it's our only shot.

[Pharaoh]

No one should dispute the merits of tanking atm

No one can compete with the Warriors over 7 games and IMO it is our only shot IF the goal of ownership is to win a ring over the next 3-5 years.

I don't think Gores really wants a title though.

I think he'd be happy with 3-5 years of playoff runs that end in the 2nd round

But that's just my opinion

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[Warspite]

If everyone feels the same way (20 teams are tanking now and 15 are always tanking) who will give you any picks and how do you tank to get franchise players when there are only 19 yr olds with potential in the draft? So we tank and win 19 games and get the 8th pick every yr because everyone else is tanking is well?


Most likely there no players at the bottom of the lottery that will ever be as good as the players we have.

I watch a NBA team that has been tanking for several yrs and has drafted some talent but they will all be RFA before they become good so they will be paid and the team will be in cap hell and still not winning or they will have to let some young players go and hope they don't become stars. The Suns are the youngest team in the NBA but most of that youth is 5-8 yrs away from its prime which is several yrs after that 1st max contract is signed and in some cases after the 2nd max contract is signed.

[He Filled it Up]

Curry was picked 7th, Klay was picked #11, and Draymond was picked #35. Their culture and success made it possible to sign Durant (in addition to a dramatic series of events that led to the best team in the league having the cap space for a max contract -- this will not happen again).

I'm not saying that tanking is necessarily a bad idea, but I do push back against the notion that 25 teams should be trying to be as bad as possible. Team development, from players to coaches, staff, management, and even ownership, is still the most important aspect to winning. One could argue that 30 years ago, and again 10-15 years ago, Detroit was among the very best in the whole league in this category. Since then, our development track record has been one of the worst in the league. Seeing Kris Middleton's development pisses me off, especially because I doubt that he would be half the player he is today if he were still in Detroit.

Getting a bunch of high draft picks won't matter if the franchise can't get back to it's roots.

[DBC10]

Curry was picked 7th, Klay was picked #11, and Draymond was picked #35. Their culture and success made it possible to sign Durant (in addition to a dramatic series of events that led to the best team in the league having the cap space for a max contract -- this will not happen again).

I'm not saying that tanking is necessarily a bad idea, but I do push back against the notion that 25 teams should be trying to be as bad as possible. Team development, from players to coaches, staff, management, and even ownership, is still the most important aspect to winning. One could argue that 30 years ago, and again 10-15 years ago, Detroit was among the very best in the whole league in this category. Since then, our development track record has been one of the worst in the league. Seeing Kris Middleton's development pisses me off, especially because I doubt that he would be half the player he is today if he were still in Detroit.

Getting a bunch of high draft picks won't matter if the franchise can't get back to it's roots.

That almost sounds like a chicken or the egg problem. We suck at developing talent because we never had young great talent to begin with or we're actually decent at developing, just never tanked enough.

I think the answer is somewhere in-between, obviously with the way the East is constructed, no one is likely going to go up against Lebron even with decent inner development. I would love to have the chance to tank for a top 5 pick for a couple years WHILE gaining future picks and signing vets and young talent. I know this isn't likely going to happen since Gores is dead set on just scraping by the playoffs and SVG maintains the status quo with that.

[He Filled it Up]

Curry was picked 7th, Klay was picked #11, and Draymond was picked #35. Their culture and success made it possible to sign Durant (in addition to a dramatic series of events that led to the best team in the league having the cap space for a max contract -- this will not happen again).

I'm not saying that tanking is necessarily a bad idea, but I do push back against the notion that 25 teams should be trying to be as bad as possible. Team development, from players to coaches, staff, management, and even ownership, is still the most important aspect to winning. One could argue that 30 years ago, and again 10-15 years ago, Detroit was among the very best in the whole league in this category. Since then, our development track record has been one of the worst in the league. Seeing Kris Middleton's development pisses me off, especially because I doubt that he would be half the player he is today if he were still in Detroit.

Getting a bunch of high draft picks won't matter if the franchise can't get back to it's roots.

That almost sounds like a chicken or the egg problem. We suck at developing talent because we never had young great talent to begin with or we're actually decent at developing, just never tanked enough.

I think the answer is somewhere in-between, obviously with the way the East is constructed, no one is likely going to go up against Lebron even with decent inner development. I would love to have the chance to tank for a top 5 pick for a couple years WHILE gaining future picks and signing vets and young talent. I know this isn't likely going to happen since Gores is dead set on just scraping by the playoffs and SVG maintains the status quo with that.

I don't really buy that. I don't think that Andre has MVP-level talent, but he was widely regarded as a great young talent and really hasn't gotten much better since his first or second year. Kris Middleton would be playing big minutes if he were in these Finals. I think the same could be true for KCP, who I think would be a better player today if he played for a better franchise. I almost wish Stanley Johnson does get traded to the Spurs, because I wouldn't be shocked to see them in the WCF in a few years with him being maybe their third best player.

These things are impossible to prove (though Middleton is a great test case), but look at the roster and ask who is better now than they were a year ago? Do this over the past few years, and it's tough to find notable success stories. To me, that's evidence of a systemic problem.

[Pharaoh]

You can argue we have tanked though:

Dre, Monroe, Knight & KCP were all Lotto picks

We failed on getting a home run guy and it caps the team's potential so you make FA acquisitions and/or trades...which we did (Smith & Jennings)

Failed on getting a home run there too.

So Joe was removed and SVG has done a lot right as far as building a talent base

But again has failed to hit a home run.

The answer isn't tanking

The answer is going all in on a trade acquistion...which we tried to do with Cousins but it failed.

People act like the other NBA teams are gonna gift you what you want: Boston is the clear example where that doesn't happen

As for developing young talent: the treatment of SJ astounds me.

Start him as the SF, tell him to focus on D and being a secondary ball handler and see what happens.

26 minutes every night in the same role regardless of wins/losses...then you'll know what you have or don't have.

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[Spider156]

It's all about player development. The only way to become great is if a player becomes a superstar which won't happen here because Dear Dre is weak mentally. He's a child. I don't believe we'll ever tank for a good lottery position. What's really surprising to me is how fast time goes and we still suck. I used to think 1991-2004 was a while. Well it's been 13 from 2004 and we're not even close hahaha. SVG is literally breaking Stanley into a bust. It's all SVG's fault not Stanley's. Look how he's burying Henry too and the kid has a fadeaway like Nowitzki's. It's ridiculous. Sooner or later he'll have to step down because if he doesn't get us in the Playoffs next season I mean how much time does he need. These players are children.

[Spider156]

You can argue we have tanked though:

Dre, Monroe, Knight & KCP were all Lotto picks

We failed on getting a home run guy and it caps the team's potential so you make FA acquisitions and/or trades...which we did (Smith & Jennings)

Failed on getting a home run there too.

So Joe was removed and SVG has done a lot right as far as building a talent base

But again has failed to hit a home run.

The answer isn't tanking

The answer is going all in on a trade acquistion...which we tried to do with Cousins but it failed.

People act like the other NBA teams are gonna gift you what you want: Boston is the clear example where that doesn't happen

As for developing young talent: the treatment of SJ astounds me.

Start him as the SF, tell him to focus on D and being a secondary ball handler and see what happens.

26 minutes every night in the same role regardless of wins/losses...then you'll know what you have or don't have.

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You're on point with this post. It's all about coaching and player development. Give young guys minutes. If SVG doesn't do that next season then consider Stanley's bust at Detroit all his fault. He'll MOST LIKELY sign at Spurs and become Leonard lmaooo I really wouldn't be surprised. SVG is much more stubborn than I thought. I blame him for our failure season but at the same time I watch the players play and they're pathetic. Really pathetic!

[bstein14]

Honestly, for the next 5-6 years making it to the NBA finals would be just as big as winning it. It'd kind of like those Sonics, Jazz, Suns, Blazers teams that made it to the Finals but just weren't ever going to win against MJ. The East is playing for 2nd place for the next half decade unless Lebron decides to play for the minimum somewhere to add a few more rings to his resume.

[Pharaoh]

You can argue we have tanked though:

Dre, Monroe, Knight & KCP were all Lotto picks

We failed on getting a home run guy and it caps the team's potential so you make FA acquisitions and/or trades...which we did (Smith & Jennings)

Failed on getting a home run there too.

So Joe was removed and SVG has done a lot right as far as building a talent base

But again has failed to hit a home run.

The answer isn't tanking

The answer is going all in on a trade acquistion...which we tried to do with Cousins but it failed.

People act like the other NBA teams are gonna gift you what you want: Boston is the clear example where that doesn't happen

As for developing young talent: the treatment of SJ astounds me.

Start him as the SF, tell him to focus on D and being a secondary ball handler and see what happens.

26 minutes every night in the same role regardless of wins/losses...then you'll know what you have or don't have.

Sent from my SM-J110F using RealGM mobile app

You're on point with this post. It's all about coaching and player development. Give young guys minutes. If SVG doesn't do that next season then consider Stanley's bust at Detroit all his fault. He'll MOST LIKELY sign at Spurs and become Leonard lmaooo I really wouldn't be surprised. SVG is much more stubborn than I thought. I blame him for our failure season but at the same time I watch the players play and they're pathetic. Really pathetic!

I honestly don't think we're lacking a lot...it's SVG being stubborn with the rotation more than anything

You can't say I'll bench dudes that don't show effort and play Drummond 32 minutes every night.

You can't say you like how Ish gives up the ball early and often and stay quiet when RJ pounds tje rock all night

You can't say Dre doesn't defend the way you want when you never bench him and he doesn't change it over the entire season

I think we could start Jon, Harris, SJ, KCP & Ish, play them all 30 minutes and win as many games , if not more!

All season long most of us here wanted rotation changes or for Dre/RJ to get benched for their play...and it never happened

That's on SVG and as much as I wanted him here I also didn't think he'd be so weak when it comes to enforcing the culture he talks about all the time

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[ImHeisenberg]

Call it quits on what? SVG isn't building a team to compete against Golden State. His objective is to build a team just good enough to snag the 8th, or maybe the 7th seed and get knocked out in 4 or 5 games.

[Billl]

This team is really close..... to being a 7th seed. If everyone commits to the team and they all play together, then we might be a 4th seed a couple years. We just don't have the talent base to compete with the top teams.

Of course, 5 years ago, everyone was talking about how the Thunder were going to dominate for a decade. GS was one of the worst teams in the league.

[vic]

Just saying - Kawhi Leonard had the Spurs up 20 against GSW

Just saying - OG Anunoby is looking like the next Kawhi

YOu can draft some defensive minded players, build a passing offense, and have some hope.

You never know when KD or Steph get's injured.

You get some 2-way players and you'll be ready for when Lebron get's old and one of GSW MVPs get's injured.

Their basket ain't bigger... it's just their front office and coaches BRAINS are bigger. They know how to build teams better. If you get 2-way players and shooters, and build a passing offense, you can play the same way as the Warriors.

If you stick with Iso-guys and offense only guys (like the team Lebron put together) you might as well be playing in the 1980s. You'll never win again anyway and what's worse is you won't even know why.

It's about team building and strategy, NOT tanking.

[thesack12]

I really don't understand why people are acting like this is 1 team dominance is some kind of new phenomenon. Its almost always been the case throughout NBA history...

Bill Russell's Celtics
MJ's bulls
Shaq and Kobe's Lakers
Lebron's heat
Current GSW

This isn't even the first time that 2 teams (1 in each conference) were head and shoulders above the rest the league...

Magic's Lakers & Bird's Celtics.

One could even make a case that Isaiah and Dumars' Pistons and Olajuwon's Rockets both had the league on lock during their respective peak times also.

In this particular case, I'm not even sure why Pistons fans are upset with GSW. Detroit's road to a championship doesn't even potentially encounter GSW until the Finals. Cleveland is who Detroit fans should be worried about.

The point is the league is cyclical, always has been always will be.

These Warriors will eventually fizzle out, just like every other dominant team in history. Injures, free agency, salary cap/ luxury tax issues, bad personnel moves, player egos, complacency, and good ole father time all have influence to showing a team its decline.

[The Penguin]

We need to worry about beating the Cavs before we can think about beating the Warriors.

I think all of our guys should be (and seem to be) on the block, what Stan wants isn't exactly clear, but I'm not sure the value is there on some of the guys to just dump them for anything to tank. Simply put, as long as Stan is in charge and especially since we are opening a new building this franchise will not be tanking. Even in the dying days of Dumars when we had no talent and pieces didn't fit, we were still no where close to having good lottery odds. The report came out that the Warriors make close to $11 mil for one Finals game, while 1 early round playoff game is likely nowhere near that figure, if you are still talking about $2 mil extra per game the $10 mil from making it to round two is a lot of money.

[theBigLip]

I'm not buying into tanking. Not now.

1. We actually have talent and we really should be a playoff team.
2. We have a long way to go before we are worried about beating GSW in the Finals.
3. Let's keep building what we got - short term goals:
* Get back into playoffs
* Win a playoff series
* Dethrone the Cavs and win the East
4. To get there, we will need to make some great trades - we don't have good enough picks and not enough cap space.

Let's do those first and then we can see what GSW's look like then.

[whitehops]

our core is younger though, we can wait them out.

[coordinator0]

our core is younger though, we can wait them out.

Eh, Detroit doesn't really have a core.

[bballnmike]

lol 28 teams gonna all tank then?