Official Speculation Thread 2017 Volume XII - The Training (Camp) arc

[AddiFB]

They do look navy blue in that pic, as the OKC and Dallas ones are navy blue and Chicago's and Cleveland's are black...

Weird.

But I think it would be cool if it was like a dark shade of navy blue. I'd be fine with that. Black is always cool too.

[RickB-Orlando]

Vucevic gets a bad rap simply because he doesn't play like the dominating big in the post-in other words, because he's not Dwight Howard.

This fanbase has enjoyed excellent center play by dominating big men in Shaq and D12 - an inside scoring machine that blocks shots and covers for the defensive deficiencies of others.

It's not his fault that Vuc isn't that. Enjoy watching him play for what he is - an excellent scorer and very good rebounder.

He's a good rebounder, ok on defense, and pretty crappy on offense.

I've always appreciated his passing ability and offensive tip ins. But his offense has gone downhill for years. Might've been the least efficient player in the whole NBA last year considering the amount of touches he got.

This whole "he's not Dwight no one appreciates him" shtick is getting old (not solely directed at you). I'm a die hard Magic fan but I'm also an NBA fan. I see 29 other starting centers on a regular basis. He doesn't have to be a shot blocker or a windmilling dunk champ. But when he does the least with the most shots, that's when you should be criticized.

There seems to be a large disconnect of people wanting posters to know the hard truths of every other player on the Magic, but refuse to see the inefficiencies of Vucevic. He needs to tinker with his game a bit. Nobody is saying that he can't become a stretch five sort of player that is a good rebounder and can defend at a decent level, but I just don't get how stats can tell the truth for every player but him.

I'll bite. Let's talk stats. I'll be posting his stats over each season of his career, per game in many cases, but per 36 if specified.
(Apologies in advance for some of the column spacing, this is what happens pasting from Excel - if there's a way to format a table I don't know it)

Shooting Percentage:
0.45
0.519
0.507
0.523
0.51
0.468

He's been remarkably consistent over the first four years in Orlando, but took a significant dip last year. My guess is because Vogel wanted him to drift further out to free up drive space inside for Elf and AG (plus Biyombo when they played together).

3pt and 2pt fg pct:
3P 3PA 3P% 2P 2PA 2P%
0.1 0.2 0.375 2.5 5.5 0.452
0 0 0 6 11.5 0.52
0 0 6.2 12.2 0.507
0 0.1 0.333 8.5 16.2 0.524
0 0.1 0.222 8.2 16 0.512
0.3 1 0.307 6.1 12.7 0.481

Obviously very low numbers on 3pt shooting, so the stats mean litle yet. 2pt percentage again very consistent, down last season. Also worth noting is the significant decline in shots per game, which is also on a declining trend: 16.3 (2015), 16.1 (2016) to 13.7 (2017).

Scoring/Rebounding/Assists/Blocks:

PTS P36-PTS TRB P36-TRB AST P36-AST BLK P36-BLK
5.5 12.5 4.8 10.9 0.6 1.4 0.7 1.5
13.1 14.2 11.9 12.9 1.9 2 1 1.1
14.2 16.1 11 12.4 1.8 2.1 0.8 0.9
19.3 20.3 10.9 11.5 2 2.1 0.7 0.8
18.2 20.9 8.9 10.2 2.8 3.2 1.1 1.2
14.6 18.2 10.4 13 2.8 3.5 1 1.2

I think these are the stats many look at. I tried to reformat this a bit to make it easier to read.
Personally I think the P36 stats are most telling because they allow for similar comparisons due to the variable in minutes played each season.

Last year scoring was down, both per game and P36. P36 wasn't as stiff a decline though, so that's encouraging.
RPG was down last year as well but wait...P36 rebounding was actually higher. In fact, best of his career.
AST were steady, but again P36 showed a career high. Basically the same for BPG.

Some advanced stats - Rebounding:
ORB% DRB% TRB%
12 21.7 16.8
12 28.4 20.2
11.5 27.6 19.5
10.4 26 18.1
9.3 22.2 15.7
8.6 31.3 19.6

ORB is on a downward trend, and has been for four years. Same for DRB until...last year, when he hit a career high. Same for TRB, except that last year was his second best.

Utilization (which everyone points to):
USG%
19.6
19.3
21.8
26
26.8
24.8

To me, this shows consistent numbers. Not ball hogging last year as many have indicated, but definitely a high percentage. Having said that, it's what you expect of a primary option, which he has often been.

Conclusion:
He had a down shooting year, but not as bad as people are making out. Rebounding remains consistent, Passing and defense has improved.

I'm happy to talk stats, what am I misrepresenting as a Vuc protector here...?

[Optimus_Steel]

This new lottery reform is literally going to make teams tank ten times harder to get into the top 3...

I agree. Seems to me more teams are going to tank because its easier to tank while not completely bottoming out.

[pepe1991]

This new lottery reform is literally going to make teams tank ten times harder to get into the top 3...

I agree. Seems to me more teams are going to tank because its easier to tank while not completely bottoming out.

Because of fines that teams will pay if they rest healthy player, we will just have lot of fake ,shady injuries after Allstar game.

[BadMofoPimp]

FYI, the team never tanked. The closet thing to a tank, was the year JV got fired. The team rattled off some late wins under JB and we end up picking 5th.

Then, the Golden State Warriors never tanked. They just developed their mid to late round talent into winners.

you forgetting their 2009-2012 seasons when they were one of the worst teams in the league? (which also gave them Curry)

Oh. You mean Curry which was drafted 7th which was worse than Magic picks.

[Magic_Johnny12]

He's a good rebounder, ok on defense, and pretty crappy on offense.

I've always appreciated his passing ability and offensive tip ins. But his offense has gone downhill for years. Might've been the least efficient player in the whole NBA last year considering the amount of touches he got.

This whole "he's not Dwight no one appreciates him" shtick is getting old (not solely directed at you). I'm a die hard Magic fan but I'm also an NBA fan. I see 29 other starting centers on a regular basis. He doesn't have to be a shot blocker or a windmilling dunk champ. But when he does the least with the most shots, that's when you should be criticized.

There seems to be a large disconnect of people wanting posters to know the hard truths of every other player on the Magic, but refuse to see the inefficiencies of Vucevic. He needs to tinker with his game a bit. Nobody is saying that he can't become a stretch five sort of player that is a good rebounder and can defend at a decent level, but I just don't get how stats can tell the truth for every player but him.

I'll bite. Let's talk stats. I'll be posting his stats over each season of his career, per game in many cases, but per 36 if specified.
(Apologies in advance for some of the column spacing, this is what happens pasting from Excel - if there's a way to format a table I don't know it)

Shooting Percentage:
0.45
0.519
0.507
0.523
0.51
0.468

He's been remarkably consistent over the first four years in Orlando, but took a significant dip last year. My guess is because Vogel wanted him to drift further out to free up drive space inside for Elf and AG (plus Biyombo when they played together).

3pt and 2pt fg pct:
3P 3PA 3P% 2P 2PA 2P%
0.1 0.2 0.375 2.5 5.5 0.452
0 0 0 6 11.5 0.52
0 0 6.2 12.2 0.507
0 0.1 0.333 8.5 16.2 0.524
0 0.1 0.222 8.2 16 0.512
0.3 1 0.307 6.1 12.7 0.481

Obviously very low numbers on 3pt shooting, so the stats mean litle yet. 2pt percentage again very consistent, down last season. Also worth noting is the significant decline in shots per game, which is also on a declining trend: 16.3 (2015), 16.1 (2016) to 13.7 (2017).

Scoring/Rebounding/Assists/Blocks:

PTS P36-PTS TRB P36-TRB AST P36-AST BLK P36-BLK
5.5 12.5 4.8 10.9 0.6 1.4 0.7 1.5
13.1 14.2 11.9 12.9 1.9 2 1 1.1
14.2 16.1 11 12.4 1.8 2.1 0.8 0.9
19.3 20.3 10.9 11.5 2 2.1 0.7 0.8
18.2 20.9 8.9 10.2 2.8 3.2 1.1 1.2
14.6 18.2 10.4 13 2.8 3.5 1 1.2

I think these are the stats many look at. I tried to reformat this a bit to make it easier to read.
Personally I think the P36 stats are most telling because they allow for similar comparisons due to the variable in minutes played each season.

Last year scoring was down, both per game and P36. P36 wasn't as stiff a decline though, so that's encouraging.
RPG was down last year as well but wait...P36 rebounding was actually higher. In fact, best of his career.
AST were steady, but again P36 showed a career high. Basically the same for BPG.

Some advanced stats - Rebounding:
ORB% DRB% TRB%
12 21.7 16.8
12 28.4 20.2
11.5 27.6 19.5
10.4 26 18.1
9.3 22.2 15.7
8.6 31.3 19.6

ORB is on a downward trend, and has been for four years. Same for DRB until...last year, when he hit a career high. Same for TRB, except that last year was his second best.

Utilization (which everyone points to):
USG%
19.6
19.3
21.8
26
26.8
24.8

To me, this shows consistent numbers. Not ball hogging last year as many have indicated, but definitely a high percentage. Having said that, it's what you expect of a primary option, which he has often been.

Conclusion:
He had a down shooting year, but not as bad as people are making out. Rebounding remains consistent, Passing and defense has improved.

I'm happy to talk stats, what am I misrepresenting as a Vuc protector here...?

In before I see someone say "eye test".

[pepe1991]

He's a good rebounder, ok on defense, and pretty crappy on offense.

I've always appreciated his passing ability and offensive tip ins. But his offense has gone downhill for years. Might've been the least efficient player in the whole NBA last year considering the amount of touches he got.

This whole "he's not Dwight no one appreciates him" shtick is getting old (not solely directed at you). I'm a die hard Magic fan but I'm also an NBA fan. I see 29 other starting centers on a regular basis. He doesn't have to be a shot blocker or a windmilling dunk champ. But when he does the least with the most shots, that's when you should be criticized.

There seems to be a large disconnect of people wanting posters to know the hard truths of every other player on the Magic, but refuse to see the inefficiencies of Vucevic. He needs to tinker with his game a bit. Nobody is saying that he can't become a stretch five sort of player that is a good rebounder and can defend at a decent level, but I just don't get how stats can tell the truth for every player but him.

I'll bite. Let's talk stats. I'll be posting his stats over each season of his career, per game in many cases, but per 36 if specified.
(Apologies in advance for some of the column spacing, this is what happens pasting from Excel - if there's a way to format a table I don't know it)

Shooting Percentage:
0.45
0.519
0.507
0.523
0.51
0.468

He's been remarkably consistent over the first four years in Orlando, but took a significant dip last year. My guess is because Vogel wanted him to drift further out to free up drive space inside for Elf and AG (plus Biyombo when they played together).

3pt and 2pt fg pct:
3P 3PA 3P% 2P 2PA 2P%
0.1 0.2 0.375 2.5 5.5 0.452
0 0 0 6 11.5 0.52
0 0 6.2 12.2 0.507
0 0.1 0.333 8.5 16.2 0.524
0 0.1 0.222 8.2 16 0.512
0.3 1 0.307 6.1 12.7 0.481

Obviously very low numbers on 3pt shooting, so the stats mean litle yet. 2pt percentage again very consistent, down last season. Also worth noting is the significant decline in shots per game, which is also on a declining trend: 16.3 (2015), 16.1 (2016) to 13.7 (2017).

Scoring/Rebounding/Assists/Blocks:

PTS P36-PTS TRB P36-TRB AST P36-AST BLK P36-BLK
5.5 12.5 4.8 10.9 0.6 1.4 0.7 1.5
13.1 14.2 11.9 12.9 1.9 2 1 1.1
14.2 16.1 11 12.4 1.8 2.1 0.8 0.9
19.3 20.3 10.9 11.5 2 2.1 0.7 0.8
18.2 20.9 8.9 10.2 2.8 3.2 1.1 1.2
14.6 18.2 10.4 13 2.8 3.5 1 1.2

I think these are the stats many look at. I tried to reformat this a bit to make it easier to read.
Personally I think the P36 stats are most telling because they allow for similar comparisons due to the variable in minutes played each season.

Last year scoring was down, both per game and P36. P36 wasn't as stiff a decline though, so that's encouraging.
RPG was down last year as well but wait...P36 rebounding was actually higher. In fact, best of his career.
AST were steady, but again P36 showed a career high. Basically the same for BPG.

Some advanced stats - Rebounding:
ORB% DRB% TRB%
12 21.7 16.8
12 28.4 20.2
11.5 27.6 19.5
10.4 26 18.1
9.3 22.2 15.7
8.6 31.3 19.6

ORB is on a downward trend, and has been for four years. Same for DRB until...last year, when he hit a career high. Same for TRB, except that last year was his second best.

Utilization (which everyone points to):
USG%
19.6
19.3
21.8
26
26.8
24.8

To me, this shows consistent numbers. Not ball hogging last year as many have indicated, but definitely a high percentage. Having said that, it's what you expect of a primary option, which he has often been.

Conclusion:
He had a down shooting year, but not as bad as people are making out. Rebounding remains consistent, Passing and defense has improved.

I'm happy to talk stats, what am I misrepresenting as a Vuc protector here...?

52,6% TS for career, 49,8% last year ,ranked as 4th least efficient center in whole league, just behind Joakim Noah, Andrew Bogut and Boris Diaw , among over 130 players ranked as PF and C ,he has 12th worst TS%. Maybe just maybe, player who is career below average in true shooting percentage, should ever take most FGA on any team ?

[j-ragg]

There seems to be a large disconnect of people wanting posters to know the hard truths of every other player on the Magic, but refuse to see the inefficiencies of Vucevic. He needs to tinker with his game a bit. Nobody is saying that he can't become a stretch five sort of player that is a good rebounder and can defend at a decent level, but I just don't get how stats can tell the truth for every player but him.

I'll bite. Let's talk stats. I'll be posting his stats over each season of his career, per game in many cases, but per 36 if specified.
(Apologies in advance for some of the column spacing, this is what happens pasting from Excel - if there's a way to format a table I don't know it)

Shooting Percentage:
0.45
0.519
0.507
0.523
0.51
0.468

He's been remarkably consistent over the first four years in Orlando, but took a significant dip last year. My guess is because Vogel wanted him to drift further out to free up drive space inside for Elf and AG (plus Biyombo when they played together).

3pt and 2pt fg pct:
3P 3PA 3P% 2P 2PA 2P%
0.1 0.2 0.375 2.5 5.5 0.452
0 0 0 6 11.5 0.52
0 0 6.2 12.2 0.507
0 0.1 0.333 8.5 16.2 0.524
0 0.1 0.222 8.2 16 0.512
0.3 1 0.307 6.1 12.7 0.481

Obviously very low numbers on 3pt shooting, so the stats mean litle yet. 2pt percentage again very consistent, down last season. Also worth noting is the significant decline in shots per game, which is also on a declining trend: 16.3 (2015), 16.1 (2016) to 13.7 (2017).

Scoring/Rebounding/Assists/Blocks:

PTS P36-PTS TRB P36-TRB AST P36-AST BLK P36-BLK
5.5 12.5 4.8 10.9 0.6 1.4 0.7 1.5
13.1 14.2 11.9 12.9 1.9 2 1 1.1
14.2 16.1 11 12.4 1.8 2.1 0.8 0.9
19.3 20.3 10.9 11.5 2 2.1 0.7 0.8
18.2 20.9 8.9 10.2 2.8 3.2 1.1 1.2
14.6 18.2 10.4 13 2.8 3.5 1 1.2

I think these are the stats many look at. I tried to reformat this a bit to make it easier to read.
Personally I think the P36 stats are most telling because they allow for similar comparisons due to the variable in minutes played each season.

Last year scoring was down, both per game and P36. P36 wasn't as stiff a decline though, so that's encouraging.
RPG was down last year as well but wait...P36 rebounding was actually higher. In fact, best of his career.
AST were steady, but again P36 showed a career high. Basically the same for BPG.

Some advanced stats - Rebounding:
ORB% DRB% TRB%
12 21.7 16.8
12 28.4 20.2
11.5 27.6 19.5
10.4 26 18.1
9.3 22.2 15.7
8.6 31.3 19.6

ORB is on a downward trend, and has been for four years. Same for DRB until...last year, when he hit a career high. Same for TRB, except that last year was his second best.

Utilization (which everyone points to):
USG%
19.6
19.3
21.8
26
26.8
24.8

To me, this shows consistent numbers. Not ball hogging last year as many have indicated, but definitely a high percentage. Having said that, it's what you expect of a primary option, which he has often been.

Conclusion:
He had a down shooting year, but not as bad as people are making out. Rebounding remains consistent, Passing and defense has improved.

I'm happy to talk stats, what am I misrepresenting as a Vuc protector here...?

In before I see someone say "eye test".

Lol no stats work just fine. But no one uses field goal percentage to assess how efficient a player is offensively, those days are long gone.

[tiderulz]

Then, the Golden State Warriors never tanked. They just developed their mid to late round talent into winners.

you forgetting their 2009-2012 seasons when they were one of the worst teams in the league? (which also gave them Curry)

Oh. You mean Curry which was drafted 7th which was worse than Magic picks.

dont change the argument. You said they never tanked, they were 13th, 12th and 13th in the Western division, which only has 15 teams. seems like tanking, though maybe they were just really really bad

[pepe1991]

you forgetting their 2009-2012 seasons when they were one of the worst teams in the league? (which also gave them Curry)

Oh. You mean Curry which was drafted 7th which was worse than Magic picks.

dont change the argument. You said they never tanked, they were 13th, 12th and 13th in the Western division, which only has 15 teams. seems like tanking, though maybe they were just really really bad

26-56 season ( Warriors ) in 2010, good enough for 4th worst record (hard to top 12 wins Nets and 15 wins Minny )

[BadMofoPimp]

you forgetting their 2009-2012 seasons when they were one of the worst teams in the league? (which also gave them Curry)

Oh. You mean Curry which was drafted 7th which was worse than Magic picks.

dont change the argument. You said they never tanked, they were 13th, 12th and 13th in the Western division, which only has 15 teams. seems like tanking, though maybe they were just really really bad

I take that as the Warriors doing a better job of selecting and developing the players they got with their average picks since they didn't draft their key players no better than 7th.

[JF5]

Oh. You mean Curry which was drafted 7th which was worse than Magic picks.

dont change the argument. You said they never tanked, they were 13th, 12th and 13th in the Western division, which only has 15 teams. seems like tanking, though maybe they were just really really bad

I take that as the Warriors doing a better job of selecting and developing the players they got with their average picks since they didn't draft their key players no better than 7th.

The Warriors openly tried to tank for a few seasons. It didn't work however because the team wasn't all the way bad, but it happened to work out in their favor with drafting guys like Thompson, Barnes, and Green like you said.

[RickB-Orlando]

I'll bite. Let's talk stats. I'll be posting his stats over each season of his career, per game in many cases, but per 36 if specified.
(Apologies in advance for some of the column spacing, this is what happens pasting from Excel - if there's a way to format a table I don't know it)

Shooting Percentage:
0.45
0.519
0.507
0.523
0.51
0.468

He's been remarkably consistent over the first four years in Orlando, but took a significant dip last year. My guess is because Vogel wanted him to drift further out to free up drive space inside for Elf and AG (plus Biyombo when they played together).

3pt and 2pt fg pct:
3P 3PA 3P% 2P 2PA 2P%
0.1 0.2 0.375 2.5 5.5 0.452
0 0 0 6 11.5 0.52
0 0 6.2 12.2 0.507
0 0.1 0.333 8.5 16.2 0.524
0 0.1 0.222 8.2 16 0.512
0.3 1 0.307 6.1 12.7 0.481

Obviously very low numbers on 3pt shooting, so the stats mean litle yet. 2pt percentage again very consistent, down last season. Also worth noting is the significant decline in shots per game, which is also on a declining trend: 16.3 (2015), 16.1 (2016) to 13.7 (2017).

Scoring/Rebounding/Assists/Blocks:

PTS P36-PTS TRB P36-TRB AST P36-AST BLK P36-BLK
5.5 12.5 4.8 10.9 0.6 1.4 0.7 1.5
13.1 14.2 11.9 12.9 1.9 2 1 1.1
14.2 16.1 11 12.4 1.8 2.1 0.8 0.9
19.3 20.3 10.9 11.5 2 2.1 0.7 0.8
18.2 20.9 8.9 10.2 2.8 3.2 1.1 1.2
14.6 18.2 10.4 13 2.8 3.5 1 1.2

I think these are the stats many look at. I tried to reformat this a bit to make it easier to read.
Personally I think the P36 stats are most telling because they allow for similar comparisons due to the variable in minutes played each season.

Last year scoring was down, both per game and P36. P36 wasn't as stiff a decline though, so that's encouraging.
RPG was down last year as well but wait...P36 rebounding was actually higher. In fact, best of his career.
AST were steady, but again P36 showed a career high. Basically the same for BPG.

Some advanced stats - Rebounding:
ORB% DRB% TRB%
12 21.7 16.8
12 28.4 20.2
11.5 27.6 19.5
10.4 26 18.1
9.3 22.2 15.7
8.6 31.3 19.6

ORB is on a downward trend, and has been for four years. Same for DRB until...last year, when he hit a career high. Same for TRB, except that last year was his second best.

Utilization (which everyone points to):
USG%
19.6
19.3
21.8
26
26.8
24.8

To me, this shows consistent numbers. Not ball hogging last year as many have indicated, but definitely a high percentage. Having said that, it's what you expect of a primary option, which he has often been.

Conclusion:
He had a down shooting year, but not as bad as people are making out. Rebounding remains consistent, Passing and defense has improved.

I'm happy to talk stats, what am I misrepresenting as a Vuc protector here...?

In before I see someone say "eye test".

Lol no stats work just fine. But no one uses field goal percentage to assess how efficient a player is offensively, those days are long gone.

So to be clear, are you looking at TS%? What exactly stats are you refuting here?

2016 - .498
2015 - .531
2-14 - .548
2013 - .536
2012 - 534

Again, pretty consistent except for one down year.

So the guy had a rough year shooting last year. Many players would be down all around because, frankly, scoring is all they care about. Instead Vuc puts up career P36 numbers in rebounding, assists, blocks, and rebound %.

To be clear, I am not saying Vuc should be a primary scorer - ideally we would have an ace wing for that. I'm saying he's an exceptionally solid center when you look at everything, who had a bad shooting year last year.

Again I ask - what am I missing?

[RickB-Orlando]

Oh. You mean Curry which was drafted 7th which was worse than Magic picks.

dont change the argument. You said they never tanked, they were 13th, 12th and 13th in the Western division, which only has 15 teams. seems like tanking, though maybe they were just really really bad

I take that as the Warriors doing a better job of selecting and developing the players they got with their average picks since they didn't draft their key players no better than 7th.

Well...yes, but they pretty much sucked from 1994-2012.

That's a lot of sucking until they 'did a better job' of - some might say "lucked into" - selecting Curry.

[BadMofoPimp]

dont change the argument. You said they never tanked, they were 13th, 12th and 13th in the Western division, which only has 15 teams. seems like tanking, though maybe they were just really really bad

I take that as the Warriors doing a better job of selecting and developing the players they got with their average picks since they didn't draft their key players no better than 7th.

Well...yes, but they pretty much sucked from 1994-2012.

That's a lot of sucking until they 'did a better job' of - some might say "lucked into" - selecting Curry.

They also lucked into selecting Klay and then Green in the 2nd round?

[tiderulz]

Oh. You mean Curry which was drafted 7th which was worse than Magic picks.

dont change the argument. You said they never tanked, they were 13th, 12th and 13th in the Western division, which only has 15 teams. seems like tanking, though maybe they were just really really bad

I take that as the Warriors doing a better job of selecting and developing the players they got with their average picks since they didn't draft their key players no better than 7th.

again, you are changing the argument. I do agree that GS did a good job of selecting and developing mid-lottery picks and late round picks. But you said they never tanked and i would posit that they did. They just didnt do a good job with the resulting picks except for Curry

[BadMofoPimp]

Face it. The Magic were the 2nd worst team in the NBA for a 5 year period. That is tanking for 5 straight years. Just because they couldn't be worse than the Sixers doesn't mean they failed. The Magic failed at drafting and developing talent. Doesn't mean they can't still win with what they have then once they learn to win, prized Free Agents can be bought and/or traded for.

[tiderulz]

Face it. The Magic were the worst team in the NBA for a 5 year period. That is tanking for 5 straight years. Just because they couldn't be worse than the Sixers doesn't mean they failed. The Magic failed at drafting and developing talent. Doesn't mean they can't still win with what they have then once they learn to win, prized Free Agents can be bought and/or traded for.

except Orlando didnt tank last year.

[BadMofoPimp]

Face it. The Magic were the worst team in the NBA for a 5 year period. That is tanking for 5 straight years. Just because they couldn't be worse than the Sixers doesn't mean they failed. The Magic failed at drafting and developing talent. Doesn't mean they can't still win with what they have then once they learn to win, prized Free Agents can be bought and/or traded for.

except Orlando didnt tank last year.

I meant 2nd worst team. Last year, they started out not tanking the first two to three months, but tanked for most of the season afterwards to get Isaac. Being the sixth worst team in the league is still tanking to me.

[RickB-Orlando]

I take that as the Warriors doing a better job of selecting and developing the players they got with their average picks since they didn't draft their key players no better than 7th.

Well...yes, but they pretty much sucked from 1994-2012.

That's a lot of sucking until they 'did a better job' of - some might say "lucked into" - selecting Curry.

They also lucked into selecting Klay and then Green in the 2nd round?

Klay was a no brainer. Any time a deep second rounder hits when everyone else passes on them - yes, that's largely luck.

And I can't help but notice you ignored the fact that these wonderful judges of talent resulted in a team that sucked for 18 years...?