Nyce_1 wrote:All this talk about trying to be like OKC with high lotto picks, i've been impressed with what the Pacers have done with mid-to-late lotto picks. Their highest pick in the last 10 yrs was #10, in 2010......Paul George. Smart drafting, smart FA acquisition, smart trades, and good, solid coaching. They haven't won anything, like OKC, but they're on the same level, through a different route.
Outside OKC, can anyone name a team that has won championships because they tanked for 2-5 years aquiring multiple (at least 2) top 5 picks?
Kobe, Nowitzki were not top draft picks while Boston, Detroit, Miami didn't win because they had multiple top 5 draft picks.
So this OKC model is bullcrap as it sets a precedence of being a losing franchise both on and off the court more than anything. OKC is the only team out of probably the last 10 who tried to tank for multiple years to even make it to a Finals or even a Conference Championship game. The rest like Charlotte, Clips, Minnesota etc all sucked arse for like a decade before they figured out how to make trades and signing the right Free Agents to make the jump to playoff teams.