Chanel Bomber wrote:Well, they are 100% making things harder for themselves by punting on the draft recently.
But while I get where you're coming from about the endemic failure of this franchise to get top picks since the 1980s, I still think you overvalue the "top 5" pick in this debate. Denver built their core outside the top 5, as did Toronto and Golden State before them.
Scouting and luck play a huge role. Luck is out of your control, but the poor scouting over the years has been more damaging to this franchise than the general unwillingness to tank in my opinion. Because it permeates through every significant decision, such as drafting RJ over Garland, or Obi over Haliburton.
Case in point, if we believe those reports to be true, the Knicks were rumored to like Wiseman at the top of the 2020 draft, if I remember correctly. Winning the lottery only to draft him would have been a disaster. But even if they'd been in a position to land Edwards and make the right call, I still view Haliburton is the better talent, and they had the ability to select him where they were. They didn't.
I agree top 5 is arbitrary. However, it doesn't look any better for the Knicks if you go to 15 or the number of 1st round picks we actually extend and re-sign. It's all some of the worst in sports. Scouting sure matters but it's not everything, number of tries matters quite a bit.
People bring up Jokic. Well Denver didn't actually scout Jokic as elite, they just had a bunch of picks (some from us). They thought Doug McDermont (they picked him #11) into Nurkic and Gary Harris were the gold in that draft. Point is they gave themselves 3 shots. Yeah they are great at scouting, but the next year they picked **** Bootiyay 7th. Recognizing he was not an all-star they used the Knicks pick to get Jamal Murray.
So are Denvers scouts elite? You'd argue yes, but they incinerated the Mudiay pick and several others. But then they knew something about MP Jr. others missed. Denver won a title because they got lots of picks, hit on 2 top 20 players including the Knicks pick (Jamal Murray).
Are our scouts good? No. I'd say average and lately (last 5 years) above average, Mitch was a steal, I.Q. is an NBA rotation player picked late first. Grimes might be a NBA rotation player and he was a late pick. But Obi was a whiff. RJ at 3 was a complete bust.
My point is this franchise never has the stomach to do it right and not stop tanking until a line to a top 15 player is clear. The two worst things to happen recently that derailed it are not trading Carmelo, and the fake Covid regular season where Thibs won coach of the year -- that was a negative 5 year event. Here we are almost no chance at making a finals in the next 3 years and almost no hope of getting a franchise player in the draft.
You just need lots of shots and years to get the 1 or 2 top 15 players. Odds are against it but you also open yourself up to once every ~8 years the absolute home run best player like LeFlop, Duncan, Shaq, Luka (lol Suns), Durant etc.. Nobody on this board *wouldn't* swap rosters with the Spurs or Magic in a heart beat. Because despite them not having a chance to make the finals in the next 3 years they do have players that could be top 15 in 3 years. We don't.
RIP mags
