Kevin Ding: Gives his opinion on tanking

[leeprettyp]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1908252-kobe-bryant-and-steve-nash-caught-in-middle-of-la-lakers-tanking-quandry

If the Lakers are far out of the playoff picture by the time Bryant’s bone has healed or Nash is ready to give it another go, the awkward reality is that the franchise could be better off if Bryant and Nash don’t energize the team, better off if they don’t even play again this season.

If there is no playoff-appearance payoff and dream scenario of stunning the longtime rival San Antonio Spurs or shocking Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets in the first round, is it worthwhile on its own to see Bryant and Nash fight their way back to a satisfying level?

Man, it really should be.

That takes us back to the tanking template, which the NBA needs to address with a new system going forward that doesn’t reward losers so much. Now that the collective bargaining agreement and revenue sharing have leveled the NBA’s playing field, the final step is to discourage the widespread concept that teams must go overboard into the negative to reach the positive.

There are almost never any guarantees when it comes to the draft, even in a class as stocked as this upcoming one. The kids remain kids, with all the developmental uncertainties that come with youth. But it is nevertheless beyond time for the NBA to shift away from what has become tear-it-down pressure instead of a proper build-it-up business model.

We’re talking about Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. No. 4 all-time in points and No. 4 all-time in assists.

Lakers’ present and future results aside, all sports fans should be looking forward to seeing these legends show their love for and magic within the game again. Them performing well would refill not only their hearts, but ours, too.

Pretty good read from Kevin Ding. It weighs options in regards to hoping Nash and Kobe get healthy and making a playoff push or just give up on the season and talks about the uncertainity of tanking on unproven players at the NBA level . He also gives his opinion on how the league needs to do something about the current lottery system

[Slava]

I don't see why people think tanking should not be an option, when the way the new CBA is constructed, it gives more and more incentive for teams to tank as securing players through free agency is getting progressively tougher thanks to restricted free agency, salary caps and repeat tax penalties.

The Lakers were ofcourse delivered a bad hand here because they made decisions for trading draft picks and handed out contracts without keeping/anticipating the financial realities in mind.

I still don't mind this mainly because every franchise now has to go through periods of boom and bust and like a game of poker the biggest winners (NBA champions) are the teams that maximize their returns when the tide is favorable and we have already done that with 3 finals appearances and 2 championships to show for it with a Kobe/Pau/Odom core. Other than Miami now no other team has come close to it.

Now its our turn to go back to the drawing board, leave the history and legacy behind and get back to work creating the next opportunity for us.

[NBAWestFan]

I believe with Kobe, Nash, Famar, Xavier and Gasol on the block after losing
D12 they need to pick up a star from a great draft class in a while.

The Lakers bottom line need to get in to the TOP 5 picks.
the Lakers have lost to most of the worst top 5 so they should be at the bottom.

Trade Gasol and go after Joseph Emien, Randle, Smart, Wiggins

I would love to see a good pick for once in a while.

Kobe, Magic & Worthy were some of the best picks I can remember.
This is a very strong draft and Tanking as San Antonio did when David Robinso was
hurt help them a lot.

I respect that Carmelo has Lakers interest but Do not want to spend more than 10 mill for him
which means he won't come. So don't get him. As in all sports Defense wins Championships.
Carmelo is not defensive minded and either is D'Antoni.

[TonyMontana]

The Lakers bottom line need to get in to the TOP 5 picks.
the Lakers have lost to most of the worst top 5 so they should be at the bottom.


I would love to see a good pick for once in a while.

Our last top 5 pick was in 1982 with Worthy. Just saying. History isn't on our side.

[leeprettyp]

And we acquired that Worthy pick through a trade also

[leeprettyp]

I don't see why people think tanking should not be an option, when the way the new CBA is constructed, it gives more and more incentive for teams to tank as securing players through free agency is getting progressively tougher thanks to restricted free agency, salary caps and repeat tax penalties.

The Lakers were ofcourse delivered a bad hand here because they made decisions for trading draft picks and handed out contracts without keeping/anticipating the financial realities in mind.

I still don't mind this mainly because every franchise now has to go through periods of boom and bust and like a game of poker the biggest winners (NBA champions) are the teams that maximize their returns when the tide is favorable and we have already done that with 3 finals appearances and 2 championships to show for it with a Kobe/Pau/Odom core. Other than Miami now no other team has come close to it.

Now its our turn to go back to the drawing board, leave the history and legacy behind and get back to work
creating the next opportunity for us.

I hear your point Slava... But Ding does bring up a good point in the article. How is this a good thing how there's probably only 3-4 LEGIT title contending teams in the NBA and everybody else is losing to tank for draft picks. I think the best part of the 90's and 2000's was how the talent was dispersed throughout the league and every night it was superstars playing against other superstars in their primes. A case could be made for a bunch of teams actually winning a ring. At this current time how is it a good thing that only 3 teams in the whole eastern conference has a winning record. And also in reality it looks even worse when we already know its only 2 teams that have a chance to come out of the East at this current time. Also barring anymore Westbrook setbacks in the West its only a 2-3 true title contending teams also. so in a NBA with over 30 teams 5 no more than 6 of them have a legit chance of winning a ring. So to avoid being in the middle of the pack GM's and even fans now are cheering for losing. How is that keeping the league competitive and balanced? History shows if we're lucky 2-3 of these guys in this up n coming draft will pan out to be above avg. Maybe 2 will go on to be superstars and thats not great odds. I actually used to look forward to the 1 vs 8 / 2 vs 7 / 3 vs 6 matchups regardless of seeding because matchups could always tilt the series in one way and make it at the very least interesting to watch.

[Sedale Threatt]

Lakers’ present and future results aside, all sports fans should be looking forward to seeing these legends show their love for and magic within the game again. Them performing well would refill not only their hearts, but ours, too.

I couldn't care less about this sappy, sentimental BS. What will really refill my heart is seeing the Lakers contend again in a major way, and it's not happening if we continue the band-aid, tread-water course we've put ourselves on for the next couple of years until Kobe retires. Especially if we hitch our wagon to Melo. That only delays the inevitable.

[DEEP3CL]

If Adam Silver is dead serious about this lottery wheel concept, which I love seeing how it would totally discourage teams from tanking. Knowing that your shot a #1 won't come all that often as it does now will make scouting staffs and GM take a more educated approach on how to draft. Also this would discourage the "one and done" concept too. If top picks know right off the back where they may end up, these guys will have limited options.

It's either stay in school at least 2 years or take a chance over seas for one season. I'm all for the lottery wheel, this needs to be installed ASAP. I'm tired of teams purposely sucking it up just for a sake of trying to get the top pick, plus the lottery is so damn flawed the team with the worst record don't have a stellar record of consistently winning the top pick.

The leagues has been steering these picks to teams the last few years with no damn shame of it. Example, the Cave lose Lebron....boom they make a bogus trade with the Clippers on draft night and end up with Kyrie Irving, and end up with Tristan Thompson with the 4th pick.

Then in 2012 The Bobcats had the worst record in like the last 35 years or so and lose the lottery to the newly sold Hornets and magically end up with Anthony Davis.

If teams knew where they were going to draft in slots for the next 30 years, they'd be less incline to just flush seasons down the toilet.

[sp6r=underrated]

If Adam Silver is dead serious about this lottery wheel concept, which I love seeing how it would totally discourage teams from tanking.

It would discourage tanking if you're already assured of missing the playoffs. However, it creates a major incentive for the bottom seeds in the playoffs to tank which is far worse than the current situation. The real way to get rid of tanking is to dissolve the draft entirely but that sadly will never happen.

[chefy]

Getting a high draft pick will give the Lakers another asset aside from the imaginary "max money/contract" we have next off season. Another good thing about tanking is we can now rest our ancient core players.

We just need to stop that "we're the lakers, we're too tough to tank" b.s and face the reality. I rather face the reality and tank, rather than fool myself thinking we're competing but we're actually not.

Tanking wouldn't discourage free agents wanting to play here. The Lakers' trademark will never change period. We're not gonna lose any of our banners if we tank. We're not gonna damage our image if we tank. We will always be known to be that organization that prioritize winning over anything. Now if we want to really lure big name free agents in the offseason, what we need to do is make our roster attractive.

[crazyeights]

If Adam Silver is dead serious about this lottery wheel concept, which I love seeing how it would totally discourage teams from tanking.

It would discourage tanking if you're already assured of missing the playoffs. However, it creates a major incentive for the bottom seeds in the playoffs to tank which is far worse than the current situation. The real way to get rid of tanking is to dissolve the draft entirely but that sadly will never happen.

I'm confused. How does the wheel concept encourage bottom seeds to tank? Regardless they don't get to improve their pick. Why would they choose to miss the playoffs when they know, for example, they have the 12th pick or the 20th pick...it's predetermined.

[crazyeights]

IMO this is what happens when you build a roster around a core of 35/33/39...I mean it's a little insane.

Somewhere along the line the Lakers were deluding themselves. I hope all these injuries to our more peripheral players forces our hand, because IMO Mitch and Jimmy haven't shown they are really ready to let go of Titanic failures these past 3 seasons.

Yeah, they were going to trade Pau and Lamar for Chris Paul...but that's a no-brainer.

Everything since then: trading 5 draft picks an aged Nash, hiring of MDA (and PR disaster of Phil) when we were supposed to be attempting to keep Dwight, the timing/number of Kobe's extension, if/when they hold onto Pau past the TD and then attempt to re-sign him....they've been more than a little tone deaf.

It's starting to feel like the Kool-Aide is some fresh **** on Figueroa.

[Dr Aki]

If Adam Silver is dead serious about this lottery wheel concept, which I love seeing how it would totally discourage teams from tanking. Knowing that your shot a #1 won't come all that often as it does now will make scouting staffs and GM take a more educated approach on how to draft. Also this would discourage the "one and done" concept too. If top picks know right off the back where they may end up, these guys will have limited options.

It's either stay in school at least 2 years or take a chance over seas for one season. I'm all for the lottery wheel, this needs to be installed ASAP. I'm tired of teams purposely sucking it up just for a sake of trying to get the top pick, plus the lottery is so damn flawed the team with the worst record don't have a stellar record of consistently winning the top pick.

The leagues has been steering these picks to teams the last few years with no damn shame of it. Example, the Cave lose Lebron....boom they make a bogus trade with the Clippers on draft night and end up with Kyrie Irving, and end up with Tristan Thompson with the 4th pick.

Then in 2012 The Bobcats had the worst record in like the last 35 years or so and lose the lottery to the newly sold Hornets and magically end up with Anthony Davis.

If teams knew where they were going to draft in slots for the next 30 years, they'd be less incline to just flush seasons down the toilet.

all this one and done nonsense wont stop.

if you're going #1-5, you ain't staying in school a year just to play for the lakers along with everyone else thinking they'll play for the lakers.

you're taking the guaranteed 30-40 million dollars, lest scouts are able to analyse your weaknesses and screw you out of 10-20 million dollars and an additional year off your sporting career

weaker players will declare over staving off a year. legit players might have more options, but will usually take the money in a weak draft

[Michael Lucky]

I don't see why people think tanking should not be an option, when the way the new CBA is constructed, it gives more and more incentive for teams to tank as securing players through free agency is getting progressively tougher thanks to restricted free agency, salary caps and repeat tax penalties.

which is the point of the article. hmm Thank god there's no franchise tags.

[AdonisDeMarion]

If Adam Silver is dead serious about this lottery wheel concept, which I love seeing how it would totally discourage teams from tanking. Knowing that your shot a #1 won't come all that often as it does now will make scouting staffs and GM take a more educated approach on how to draft. Also this would discourage the "one and done" concept too. If top picks know right off the back where they may end up, these guys will have limited options.

It's either stay in school at least 2 years or take a chance over seas for one season. I'm all for the lottery wheel, this needs to be installed ASAP. I'm tired of teams purposely sucking it up just for a sake of trying to get the top pick, plus the lottery is so damn flawed the team with the worst record don't have a stellar record of consistently winning the top pick.

The leagues has been steering these picks to teams the last few years with no damn shame of it. Example, the Cave lose Lebron....boom they make a bogus trade with the Clippers on draft night and end up with Kyrie Irving, and end up with Tristan Thompson with the 4th pick.

Then in 2012 The Bobcats had the worst record in like the last 35 years or so and lose the lottery to the newly sold Hornets and magically end up with Anthony Davis.

If teams knew where they were going to draft in slots for the next 30 years, they'd be less incline to just flush seasons down the toilet.

well if that's the case and these goons are just handing out the overall draft pick then I'm all for it. Send that top pick to the Lakers its our turn anyway....lol

[DEEP3CL]

If Adam Silver is dead serious about this lottery wheel concept, which I love seeing how it would totally discourage teams from tanking. Knowing that your shot a #1 won't come all that often as it does now will make scouting staffs and GM take a more educated approach on how to draft. Also this would discourage the "one and done" concept too. If top picks know right off the back where they may end up, these guys will have limited options.

It's either stay in school at least 2 years or take a chance over seas for one season. I'm all for the lottery wheel, this needs to be installed ASAP. I'm tired of teams purposely sucking it up just for a sake of trying to get the top pick, plus the lottery is so damn flawed the team with the worst record don't have a stellar record of consistently winning the top pick.

The leagues has been steering these picks to teams the last few years with no damn shame of it. Example, the Cave lose Lebron....boom they make a bogus trade with the Clippers on draft night and end up with Kyrie Irving, and end up with Tristan Thompson with the 4th pick.

Then in 2012 The Bobcats had the worst record in like the last 35 years or so and lose the lottery to the newly sold Hornets and magically end up with Anthony Davis.

If teams knew where they were going to draft in slots for the next 30 years, they'd be less incline to just flush seasons down the toilet.

all this one and done nonsense wont stop.

if you're going #1-5, you ain't staying in school a year just to play for the lakers along with everyone else thinking they'll play for the lakers.

you're taking the guaranteed 30-40 million dollars, lest scouts are able to analyse your weaknesses and screw you out of 10-20 million dollars and an additional year off your sporting career

weaker players will declare over staving off a year. legit players might have more options, but will usually take the money in a weak draft

First off you'd have to have some sort of assurance that you're in that top 5, if not I can see the one and done being DOA with the new proposed format. You realize that teams will be slotted on a yearly basis from here on out. Teams will have to be more prudent on how they draft period. F'ing up can mean a GM's job in a short span if a team can't recover.

[Dr Aki]

no real use speculating about it now.

it's still a lottery system and not the wheel system, and being in the lottery once every 10 years won't turn the lakers into perennial cellar dwellers.

[rockmanslim]

Wait, isn't Kevin Ding a legit sportswriter? Why the hell is he writing for Bleacher Report?

[Dr Aki]

might have something with the oc reg. going pay to read and losing a whole bunch of readers?

[Sedale Threatt]

They're making a big push for respectability, similar to what Yahoo did a few years ago. Also picked up Howard Beck, who was with the OC Register during the Shaq/Kobe days and more recently the NY Times.