Tank World Order (XIV) Here we go, The Final Stretch of the 2025 Tank Season!!!

[720]

Bailed out by the Spurs and retain 7th. Masai should be grateful as a tiny modicum of karma swung back in his direction from the Poeltl trade.

I'll be interested to see what the sentiment is if the Spurs at 8th jump into the top 4

Happens, we can only control what we can and that’s our odds going into the lottery. What happens after that it is what it is.

[Duffman100]

Bailed out by the Spurs and retain 7th. Masai should be grateful as a tiny modicum of karma swung back in his direction from the Poeltl trade.

I'll be interested to see what the sentiment is if the Spurs at 8th jump into the top 4

Happens, we can only control what we can and that’s our odds going into the lottery. What happens after that it is what it is.

You're optimistic

[Tor_Raps]

or you could be the hornets where they are lottery every year

What if they move up to top 1? Karma wise they deserve it. If Philadelphia wins the lottery I will stop believing in karma.

How do you think OKC got where they're at today? Shai sat for like 2 years due to tanking loll

But we have Masai to not screw up the draft picks... there's a reason why he's bring paid as a top executive in the NBA...

[720]

I'll be interested to see what the sentiment is if the Spurs at 8th jump into the top 4

Happens, we can only control what we can and that’s our odds going into the lottery. What happens after that it is what it is.

You're optimistic

The year we tanked in Tampa I had a feeling we were gonna move up. I know that’s not how odds work obviously but there was this sense of certainty that we would move up for me back then. I felt like Cade was our guy (during the draw we were one number away from getting the pick I believe, could be wrong).

Just hoping for the best this time around. I’ve sorta mentally accepted that we’re staying in 7, 8.

Again I know our feelings and the lottery balls have no correlation but I’m more realistic this time around. Which is why I really wanted us to retain the 5th pick.

[Tor_Raps]

What if they move up to top 1? Karma wise they deserve it. If Philadelphia wins the lottery I will stop believing in karma.

How do you think OKC got where they're at today? Shai sat for like 2 years due to tanking loll

Ya...OKC tanked and all they got out of it was Chet Holmgren and Josh Giddey. Those 2 are the only picks OKC made that were their own picks and a direct result of their tanking.

SGA was a the result of a desperate Clippers team

Jalen Williams was taken with a Clippers pick.

Ousman Dieng was traded from NY for 3 protected firsts

Cason Wallace was drafted by Dallas but traded to OKC for Dereck Lively and the chance to dump Bertans.

So really...OKC tanked hard for only 2 years and ended up with Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso. The rest of their roster was them being mediocre or taking advantage of the Clippers' stupidity.

Tanking also means trading all your players who have value to bottom out as best as you can while building your asset base to give you the most chances to add to your team.

Masai refused to do that when he let so many of his players walk away for very little or nothing at all. Instead he traded future assets for guys like Poeltl and pushed for the play-in.

[Tor_Raps]

What if they move up to top 1? Karma wise they deserve it. If Philadelphia wins the lottery I will stop believing in karma.

How do you think OKC got where they're at today? Shai sat for like 2 years due to tanking loll

They literally only have Chet from the top 5...

They also tanked to get Giddey but got unlucky that year. Tanking also let them trade all their players to acquire their current massive asset base. My comment was just about "karma" lol.

In the end, you just need a good front office to carry out whatever action plan your organization has decided on. The way this lottery/draft/offseason ends will be extremely important as next season will be a big indicator as to whether Masai's plan was a good or bad one.

[mtcan]

How do you think OKC got where they're at today? Shai sat for like 2 years due to tanking loll

Ya...OKC tanked and all they got out of it was Chet Holmgren and Josh Giddey. Those 2 are the only picks OKC made that were their own picks and a direct result of their tanking.

SGA was a the result of a desperate Clippers team

Jalen Williams was taken with a Clippers pick.

Ousman Dieng was traded from NY for 3 protected firsts

Cason Wallace was drafted by Dallas but traded to OKC for Dereck Lively and the chance to dump Bertans.

So really...OKC tanked hard for only 2 years and ended up with Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso. The rest of their roster was them being mediocre or taking advantage of the Clippers' stupidity.

Tanking also means trading all your players who have value to bottom out as best as you can while building your asset base to give you the most chances to add to your team.

Masai refused to do that when he let so many of his players walk away for very little or nothing at all. Instead he traded future assets for guys like Poeltl and pushed for the play-in.

But to my point...OKC was only top 5 bad for 2 years. The last 2 years they were already in the play-in or playoff conversation.

So did they really actually bottom and tank like the Pistons? No. They did not.

OKC is what they are not because they tanked but because the Clippers were dumb enough to trade a future MVP and 7 years of draft pick control.

Much like we won't see a Kawhi Leonard trade again...it is likely never again will you see a team give up that kind of picks and prospects for a guy of the caliber of Paul George...not in today's NBA with the various tax aprons.

[Clutch0z24]

How do you think OKC got where they're at today? Shai sat for like 2 years due to tanking loll

They literally only have Chet from the top 5...

They also tanked to get Giddey but got unlucky that year. Tanking also let them trade all their players to acquire their current massive asset base. My comment was just about "karma" lol.

In the end, you just need a good front office to carry out whatever action plan your organization has decided on. The way this lottery/draft/offseason ends will be extremely important as next season will be a big indicator as to whether Masai's plan was a good or bad one.

Also without Chet the OKC team is no where near as good as they are and also have no where near the ceiling they have as a team.....He maybe the 2nd option but what he brings to that team is very valuable and hard to replace .....

But yeah i think we can all agree Masai was way too late to pull the trigger on what was inevitable to happen all along and thats us being a bad team to become better.....Holding onto players too long and not getting the highest value out of them at the right time is part of the GM job....Masai has failed in that aspect but i will always be confident in Masai ability to build a team if he does it in the right way.....He let his feelings get in the way with FVV/Siakam in not moving them sooner.

[Clutch0z24]

Ya...OKC tanked and all they got out of it was Chet Holmgren and Josh Giddey. Those 2 are the only picks OKC made that were their own picks and a direct result of their tanking.

SGA was a the result of a desperate Clippers team

Jalen Williams was taken with a Clippers pick.

Ousman Dieng was traded from NY for 3 protected firsts

Cason Wallace was drafted by Dallas but traded to OKC for Dereck Lively and the chance to dump Bertans.

So really...OKC tanked hard for only 2 years and ended up with Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso. The rest of their roster was them being mediocre or taking advantage of the Clippers' stupidity.

Tanking also means trading all your players who have value to bottom out as best as you can while building your asset base to give you the most chances to add to your team.

Masai refused to do that when he let so many of his players walk away for very little or nothing at all. Instead he traded future assets for guys like Poeltl and pushed for the play-in.

But to my point...OKC was only top 5 bad for 2 years. The last 2 years they were already in the play-in or playoff conversation.

So did they really actually bottom and tank like the Pistons? No. They did not.

OKC is what they are not because they tanked but because the Clippers were dumb enough to trade a future MVP and 7 years of draft pick control.

Much like we won't see a Kawhi Leonard trade again...it is likely never again will you see a team give up that kind of picks and prospects for a guy of the caliber of Paul George...not in today's NBA with the various tax aprons.

They intentionally sat SGA for stretches of games to have a worse record some seasons....They traded all their "Star" players in George/Westbrook and got the best assets out of them that they could have....Sam has done his job amazingly well and anyone that says he hasn't are just haters....They hold the best record in the NBA now while also having draft picks to keep building on the team they already have.

[mtcan]

Tanking also means trading all your players who have value to bottom out as best as you can while building your asset base to give you the most chances to add to your team.

Masai refused to do that when he let so many of his players walk away for very little or nothing at all. Instead he traded future assets for guys like Poeltl and pushed for the play-in.

But to my point...OKC was only top 5 bad for 2 years. The last 2 years they were already in the play-in or playoff conversation.

So did they really actually bottom and tank like the Pistons? No. They did not.

OKC is what they are not because they tanked but because the Clippers were dumb enough to trade a future MVP and 7 years of draft pick control.

Much like we won't see a Kawhi Leonard trade again...it is likely never again will you see a team give up that kind of picks and prospects for a guy of the caliber of Paul George...not in today's NBA with the various tax aprons.

They intentionally sat SGA for stretches of games to have a worse record some seasons....They traded all their "Star" players in George/Westbrook and got the best assets out of them that they could have....Sam has done his job amazingly well and anyone that says he hasn't are just haters....They hold the best record in the NBA now while also having draft picks to keep building on the team they already have.

The Paul George trade is a huge reason for them being what they are right now.

They didn't tank for SGA and Jalen Williams who are their 2 best players.

Like I said...they intentionally sat SGA to get Chet and Alex Caruso (traded Giddey for) who are the only picks that are a direct effect of sitting SGA.

Let's not rewrite history here.

Don't get me wrong...Presti rebuilt the team well but we still have a championship and they don't...not yet at least. There is more than one way to build a winner. Presti did it his way and when they win a championship I will give him his flowers...but the OKC Thunder did not tank for multiple years to end up with a top 5 player (they traded for him).

[djsunyc]

so what will be the reaction if #8 spurs win the 1st pick?

[Clutch0z24]

But to my point...OKC was only top 5 bad for 2 years. The last 2 years they were already in the play-in or playoff conversation.

So did they really actually bottom and tank like the Pistons? No. They did not.

OKC is what they are not because they tanked but because the Clippers were dumb enough to trade a future MVP and 7 years of draft pick control.

Much like we won't see a Kawhi Leonard trade again...it is likely never again will you see a team give up that kind of picks and prospects for a guy of the caliber of Paul George...not in today's NBA with the various tax aprons.

They intentionally sat SGA for stretches of games to have a worse record some seasons....They traded all their "Star" players in George/Westbrook and got the best assets out of them that they could have....Sam has done his job amazingly well and anyone that says he hasn't are just haters....They hold the best record in the NBA now while also having draft picks to keep building on the team they already have.

The Paul George trade is a huge reason for them being what they are right now.

They didn't tank for SGA and Jalen Williams who are their 2 best players.

Like I said...they intentionally sat SGA to get Chet and Alex Caruso (traded Giddey for) who are the only picks that are a direct effect of sitting SGA.

Let's not rewrite history here.

Don't get me wrong...Presti rebuilt the team well but we still have a championship and they don't...not yet at least. There is more than one way to build a winner. Presti did it his way and when they win a championship I will give him his flowers...but the OKC Thunder did not tank for multiple years to end up with a top 5 player (they traded for him).

Again....Knowing when to trade your best players to get the best package you can is part of the job....Lets also not pretend SGA was this SGA when Presti traded for him....He traded for a young prospect and picks....No one knew he would be the future MVP of the league....Sam took that gamble and won....

Also Chet is one of their most valuable players what he bring on defense and offense is very valuable and hard to replace.....Not many players like Chet around the league....Also drafting right is part of the job and Sam drafted right with Williams....

[Jcity08]

Its kinda poetic that the Warriors Spurs game clinched our lottery.

[Duffman100]

Happens, we can only control what we can and that’s our odds going into the lottery. What happens after that it is what it is.

You're optimistic

The year we tanked in Tampa I had a feeling we were gonna move up. I know that’s not how odds work obviously but there was this sense of certainty that we would move up for me back then. I felt like Cade was our guy (during the draw we were one number away from getting the pick I believe, could be wrong).

Just hoping for the best this time around. I’ve sorta mentally accepted that we’re staying in 7, 8.

Again I know our feelings and the lottery balls have no correlation but I’m more realistic this time around. Which is why I really wanted us to retain the 5th pick.

I mean you're optimistic about people's reactions.

[Clutch0z24]

so what will be the reaction if #8 spurs win the 1st pick?

The Lottery is the lottery....All you can do is try and have the best odds you can going into it....#7 Has better odds thn #8 going into the lottery....Its all up to luck at that point....If Spurs move up....It was just they got lucky.....Im just glad we will stay in the 7/8 range now most likely....I didn't wanna slide down to 10/11 potentially.

[mtcan]

They intentionally sat SGA for stretches of games to have a worse record some seasons....They traded all their "Star" players in George/Westbrook and got the best assets out of them that they could have....Sam has done his job amazingly well and anyone that says he hasn't are just haters....They hold the best record in the NBA now while also having draft picks to keep building on the team they already have.

The Paul George trade is a huge reason for them being what they are right now.

They didn't tank for SGA and Jalen Williams who are their 2 best players.

Like I said...they intentionally sat SGA to get Chet and Alex Caruso (traded Giddey for) who are the only picks that are a direct effect of sitting SGA.

Let's not rewrite history here.

Don't get me wrong...Presti rebuilt the team well but we still have a championship and they don't...not yet at least. There is more than one way to build a winner. Presti did it his way and when they win a championship I will give him his flowers...but the OKC Thunder did not tank for multiple years to end up with a top 5 player (they traded for him).

Again....Knowing when to trade your best players to get the best package you can is part of the job....Lets also not pretend SGA was this SGA when Presti traded for him....He traded for a young prospect and picks....No one knew he would be the future MVP of the league....Sam took that gamble and won....

Also Chet is one of their most valuable players what he bring on defense and offense is very valuable and hard to replace.....Not many players like Chet around the league....Also drafting right is part of the job and Sam drafted right with Williams....

Again...revisionist history.

Paul George forced a trade to the Clippers. Presti did nothing but sit on the phone as the Clippers outbid themselves in desperation to seal the deal.

He did right to let the Clippers soil themselves. He gets credit for that.

And of course I would to have a guy like Chet but my point still stands that OKC did not bottom out for the last 5 years to get the team they now have.

They bottomed out for 2 years for Chet and Caruso.

The rest of the time they were up near the play-in...basically what we consider as no man's land.

[Los_29]

I'll be interested to see what the sentiment is if the Spurs at 8th jump into the top 4

Happens, we can only control what we can and that’s our odds going into the lottery. What happens after that it is what it is.

You're optimistic

There would be some that’d argue we didn’t win enough.

[Los_29]

They intentionally sat SGA for stretches of games to have a worse record some seasons....They traded all their "Star" players in George/Westbrook and got the best assets out of them that they could have....Sam has done his job amazingly well and anyone that says he hasn't are just haters....They hold the best record in the NBA now while also having draft picks to keep building on the team they already have.

The Paul George trade is a huge reason for them being what they are right now.

They didn't tank for SGA and Jalen Williams who are their 2 best players.

Like I said...they intentionally sat SGA to get Chet and Alex Caruso (traded Giddey for) who are the only picks that are a direct effect of sitting SGA.

Let's not rewrite history here.

Don't get me wrong...Presti rebuilt the team well but we still have a championship and they don't...not yet at least. There is more than one way to build a winner. Presti did it his way and when they win a championship I will give him his flowers...but the OKC Thunder did not tank for multiple years to end up with a top 5 player (they traded for him).

Again....Knowing when to trade your best players to get the best package you can is part of the job....Lets also not pretend SGA was this SGA when Presti traded for him....He traded for a young prospect and picks....No one knew he would be the future MVP of the league....Sam took that gamble and won....

Also Chet is one of their most valuable players what he bring on defense and offense is very valuable and hard to replace.....Not many players like Chet around the league....Also drafting right is part of the job and Sam drafted right with Williams....

SGA was acquired in the Paul George deal that netted them a huge draft haul as well. It only happened because Kawhi wanted to go to the Clippers with the condition that George was his running mate.

So clearly, Presti didn’t take a gamble. Lol. A gamble would be acquiring Kawhi for us. If we didn’t win and lost Kawhi then we unloaded good assets for a rental player.

Presti did not draft a superstar. Chet and Jdubs are good but not superstar material. Presti is extremely fortunate because he’s made some bad moves. Trading Sengun, drafting Dieng and Giddey. Without SGA they are a middling team. The saying it’s better to be lucky than good applies to Presti here.

[Brinbe]

Okay, but how do you account for unlikely teams like New Orleans and Philly getting cursed seasons like they have? That's something unexpected and out of the Rap's control. Otherwise, the Wiz/Jazz/Hornets/Nets are all stuck in situations way worse compared to ours even if they do get Flagg. They're all likely in the Dybantsa/Peterson/Boozer sweepstakes again next season and even then they're not likely competing for anything. So why would you want to switch positions with them and kneecap yourself for single percentages at a chance at a top pick?



crashing out over 7% doesn't seem entirely rational. I also don't think the supposed gap from Harper/Edgecombe/Bailey to Fears/Knuppel/Johnson/Maluach/Queen/Richardson is all that large either to be freaking out.

Salaun went 6th last season, but would you take him over Walter/Shead/Mogbo or even Battle going forward?

[Clutch0z24]

The Paul George trade is a huge reason for them being what they are right now.

They didn't tank for SGA and Jalen Williams who are their 2 best players.

Like I said...they intentionally sat SGA to get Chet and Alex Caruso (traded Giddey for) who are the only picks that are a direct effect of sitting SGA.

Let's not rewrite history here.

Don't get me wrong...Presti rebuilt the team well but we still have a championship and they don't...not yet at least. There is more than one way to build a winner. Presti did it his way and when they win a championship I will give him his flowers...but the OKC Thunder did not tank for multiple years to end up with a top 5 player (they traded for him).

Again....Knowing when to trade your best players to get the best package you can is part of the job....Lets also not pretend SGA was this SGA when Presti traded for him....He traded for a young prospect and picks....No one knew he would be the future MVP of the league....Sam took that gamble and won....

Also Chet is one of their most valuable players what he bring on defense and offense is very valuable and hard to replace.....Not many players like Chet around the league....Also drafting right is part of the job and Sam drafted right with Williams....

SGA was acquired in the Paul George deal that netted them a huge draft haul as well. It only happened because Kawhi wanted to go to the Clippers with the condition that George was his running mate.

So clearly, Presti didn’t take a gamble. Lol. A gamble would be acquiring Kawhi for us. If we didn’t win and lost Kawhi then we unloaded good assets for a rental player.

Presti did not draft a superstar. Chet and Jdubs are good but not superstar material. Presti is extremely fortunate because he’s made some bad moves. Trading Sengun, drafting Dieng and Giddey. Without SGA they are a middling team. The saying it’s better to be lucky than good applies to Presti here.

Well he got an MVP .....A decade of Clippers draft picks, JDub All from Playoff P whos now a shell of himself....They still are the best team in the league all while having draft picks to remain the best team in the league....If this was Masai who made sim moves we would all be calling him the GOAT Gm ever....The hate is unreal lol....

You can say "They would be here or there" But facts are they are in a way better position than us...And good gming plays a part in that....Also getting lucky plays a part....Just like Masai was lucky Kawai trade fell into our lapse with Masai not having to do much but say yes to the deal....