Pickled Prunes wrote:ChokeFasncists wrote:Pickled Prunes wrote:Umm, that's what I'm saying. If the game is to lose on purpose (for any reason) than I hate the game. If a player/coach threw a game for monetary gain we would all cry foul! Jobs would be lost; hell would be paid!... But losing for lottery balls is somehow OK? Both scenarios involve gambling.
The NBA's reputation and future integrity has a lot riding on "the process" failing. The fans have somehow bought into the idea that any team that can't win should be trying to lose. So incredibly dull! And it's not just bad for Cavs fans. The Spurs play the Cavs twice in their last a games. So in a tight West the Spurs are going to get two essential forfeits. That screws OKC, POR, UTA, HOU, etc. Not to mention the season ticket holders in opposing arenas that take a loss on tickets to a non-competitive game that they have no interest in attending.
If the Cavs were good enough to be picking 15th than that's where they should be picking. It's about integrity and quality of product. Would you frequent a restaurant with nasty taco meat if they told you they were intentionally buying nasty meat while saving up for quality meat in the future?
Bottom line... it is not good for the league or the fans in any way whatsoever.
I totally get what you saying......but if you're the GM or a RGM what you gonna do? Just look at SVG or Ferry/Bud etc. If you're a good team but nothing's getting you over the top, it's called treadmill. Fans don't like that very much, owners don't like that very much, that's just reality I guess.
OTOH, there's legal gambling and illegal gambling, big difference! (Nasty meat is unhealthy, that's terrible as well)
You should be asking what I would do as commissioner... or what I would do as an owner and what I would expect from other owners. This is fixable through draft reform.
Well, Silver did do something, it's gonna be better but won't solve the problems. Maybe he'll do something more drastic down the road? Make the odds even less different?
But yeah, there are 30 teams. 20 of them are treadmill teams. What does the league look like when all of those teams are trying to lose. Last season, no less than 8 teams were hoping for losses post ASG. That is not a sign of a healthy league. Also, GSW, HOU, TOR, BOS didn't get to where they are by tanking... and they own the league right now. The draft is too unpredictable to warrant throwing away a season for. The Lakers tanked and would still be irrelevant if Lebron didn't roll into town. It just doesn't pay.
GSW got Curry/Barnes at 7, Klay at 11. They didn't seriously tank but if they were a better team this wouldn't have happened.
Jury's still out for Toronto, they were thinking about tanking if Kawaii wasn't available or the trade doesn't work out. DD at 9, Val at 5.
The Celts got Smart at 6, but mainly got lucky cuz the Nets' owners were stupid, they got 3 high picks, it's almost like tanking. No teams are gonna do that again, rules have even changed cuz of it.
Rockets got lucky OKC's owners were stupid, how often would the Harden trade happen? Interesting how Morey's protege was the one who did the extreme tank. Well done, even tho Morey did do some shady stuff to get there.(treating players like cargo)
OTOH, I wouldn't say 20 teams are treadmill. Since serious tanking, the league and most teams have gotten younger, young teams don't qualify as treadmill.