Official Speculation Thread ‘18-19’: XX: Year of the Vuc

[JF5]

I think our offense will look better tonight.

I'm not sure about that...

But we'll see... Vucevic was the glue that held this offense and the most consistent...

[mr2good]

Read on Twitter

No Vucevic tonight. 20 point blowout loss coming?

I get taking time to be there for the birth of your child, but Vooch that happened two days ago. You're getting paid millions, get back with the team.

[OrlandoNed]

It isn’t like we’ve made some huge mistake by trying to finally put a competitive team out there with competent coaching.

Only, every year it seems that *insert top college player* is this coveted savior—look at Fultz and how that worked out. We haven’t had a 1st overall pick since Dwight left.
Zion and Barrett both look great at their current level, but so did Ingram, Ball, Okafor, Fultz, etc.

Then you have guys like Giannis and Gobert, who were much deeper in the draft, one is talked about as the heir apparent to the “best in the league” title and the other has been a bonafide starter for years. Point being, let the chips fall where they may and see what you have.

Just remember that the only times in franchise history we've been better than a 1st round exit is with a team built around a superstar that was a #1 overall pick. Chips falling where they may is a recipe for unending mediocrity, waiting for dumb luck to bail you out. Screw that.

I want championships. Championship teams have superstars. Easiest way to get a superstar, in the draft. Best spot in the draft a superstar, #1. Easiest way to land the #1 pick, have the worst record. Best way to have worst record, have worst team....

You can't count on dumb luck saving your franchise, what you can count on is mathematical odds and yourself. Controlling your destiny by playing to the best odds is a lot faster way to get to the promised land. Sitting on the fence between tanking and contending with a team who's ceiling is capped at a possible fluke upset series win into 2nd round of playoffs is just a waste of everybody's time.

Success is proactive, not reactive.

So your position is that you don’t want to rely on dumb luck, so we should rank year after year to enter a LOTTERY, the winner of which is based solely on luck, to hope we’ve evaluated the talent correctly, to then draft a superstar who IS a superstar, just not enough of one to prevent us from getting the first overall pick again, until we look like a good team on paper.

Come on dude. You know your posts are just dripping with opportunity to complain—whether we are winning games or losing, you’re complaining.

I never said there is a way to rebuild without luck. That's why I said "dumb luck" and "playing the odds".

Dumb luck is finishing 38-44 to make the playoffs, after trading a young prospect for a rental, only to get your ass beat in 4 games by a superstar laden Miami Heat team and using the 15th overall pick to take a flyer on a skinny Greek kid who's 90% arms and legs who've you'd only seen on grainy footage taken by a camera phone in a dumpy gym in Europe and then see that kid become a MVP candidate 5 years later. That's success on accident. You can't replicate stumbling into a franchise changer like that on purpose.

Playing the odds is tearing down your mediocre roster after you get tired of riding the treadmill for years, getting picks and young players for your hohum veterans, using your cap space to take on bad contracts for picks, putting together a roster of youngsters learning on the floor and playing through their mistakes to rack up losses for better odds, taking the best available players in the draft, rise and repeat until you have a no doubt, franchise centerpiece superstar or two that will be the foundation of your perennial championship contender. That's proactive success. That's a plan that can be repeated and replicated.

Now what sounds better, waiting for an sequence of events as likely as the equivalent of getting hit by lightning twice in a row, attacked by a shark and then getting hit by a bus in the same day to happen to your team or do the equivalent of hitting on every single hand of blackjack until you hit 21?

[Blue_and_Whte]

I hope our offense will look better tonight.

Fixed.


Sent from my VS501 using RealGM mobile app

[Blue_and_Whte]

Read on Twitter

No Vucevic tonight. 20 point blowout loss coming?

I get taking time to be there for the birth of your child, but Vooch that happened two days ago. You're getting paid millions, get back with the team.

Is this...are you being serious?

Rozier is probably the easier player to acquire. His value will never be lower. He's having a rough season, he gets few minutes to showcase himself, and everyone knows it will be hard for Boston to keep him in the off-season. I could see Orlando liking Rozier in a trade situation; they'd probably have to part ways with less to get someone like Rozier compared to Russell. Russell continues to play well offensively, is a better shooter and playmaker, and is younger. I'm not convinced that the Nets want to part ways with Russell yet. He's playing too well.

Leave it to WeHam to pass on the scorer we desperately need. Arms must not be long enough.

Sent from my VS501 using RealGM mobile app

[trebone]

Rozier to me is Reggie Jackson 2.0, Id rather have DLo

[mr2good]

Read on Twitter

No Vucevic tonight. 20 point blowout loss coming?

I get taking time to be there for the birth of your child, but Vooch that happened two days ago. You're getting paid millions, get back with the team.

Is this...are you being serious?

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

[OrlandO]

I get taking time to be there for the birth of your child, but Vooch that happened two days ago. You're getting paid millions, get back with the team.

Is this...are you being serious?

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

It's likely today is the first day the baby and mom are home from the hospital.

[Leopold Stoich]

Rozier to me is Reggie Jackson 2.0, Id rather have DLo

This isn't the first time I've heard this comparison and it's become more and more spot on as time goes by.

[IllMagic04]

I get taking time to be there for the birth of your child, but Vooch that happened two days ago. You're getting paid millions, get back with the team.

Is this...are you being serious?

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

Do you have children?

[woosah]

Is this...are you being serious?

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

Do you have children?

Doesn't sound like he has even been around any kids lol.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Is this...are you being serious?

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

Do you have children?

Or a wife?
"Alright honey thanks for birthing my child, I'm off to go play a game now...bye."

RealGM Wiretap
"Nikolet Vucevic files for divorce day after child is born"

[X_O_Z]

I get taking time to be there for the birth of your child, but Vooch that happened two days ago. You're getting paid millions, get back with the team.

Is this...are you being serious?

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

Wow, It just 1 game out of 82 games. Having his first baby and all that is life changing to many. Everyone does things different. I'm assuming you don't have kids because if you did you wouldn't want this man to rush to play, despite just one game.

[NEM]

Is this...are you being serious?

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

Do you have children?

I’ll answer this one for him. No he does not and I’m 99.9% he doesn’t have a wife either. No married man or father would ever have this response.

[EAS Law]

Just remember that the only times in franchise history we've been better than a 1st round exit is with a team built around a superstar that was a #1 overall pick. Chips falling where they may is a recipe for unending mediocrity, waiting for dumb luck to bail you out. Screw that.

I want championships. Championship teams have superstars. Easiest way to get a superstar, in the draft. Best spot in the draft a superstar, #1. Easiest way to land the #1 pick, have the worst record. Best way to have worst record, have worst team....

You can't count on dumb luck saving your franchise, what you can count on is mathematical odds and yourself. Controlling your destiny by playing to the best odds is a lot faster way to get to the promised land. Sitting on the fence between tanking and contending with a team who's ceiling is capped at a possible fluke upset series win into 2nd round of playoffs is just a waste of everybody's time.

Success is proactive, not reactive.

So your position is that you don’t want to rely on dumb luck, so we should rank year after year to enter a LOTTERY, the winner of which is based solely on luck, to hope we’ve evaluated the talent correctly, to then draft a superstar who IS a superstar, just not enough of one to prevent us from getting the first overall pick again, until we look like a good team on paper.

Come on dude. You know your posts are just dripping with opportunity to complain—whether we are winning games or losing, you’re complaining.

I never said there is a way to rebuild without luck. That's why I said "dumb luck" and "playing the odds".

Dumb luck is finishing 38-44 to make the playoffs, after trading a young prospect for a rental, only to get your ass beat in 4 games by a superstar laden Miami Heat team and using the 15th overall pick to take a flyer on a skinny Greek kid who's 90% arms and legs who've you'd only seen on grainy footage taken by a camera phone in a dumpy gym in Europe and then see that kid become a MVP candidate 5 years later. That's success on accident. You can't replicate stumbling into a franchise changer like that on purpose.

Playing the odds is tearing down your mediocre roster after you get tired of riding the treadmill for years, getting picks and young players for your hohum veterans, using your cap space to take on bad contracts for picks, putting together a roster of youngsters learning on the floor and playing through their mistakes to rack up losses for better odds, taking the best available players in the draft, rise and repeat until you have a no doubt, franchise centerpiece superstar or two that will be the foundation of your perennial championship contender. That's proactive success. That's a plan that can be repeated and replicated.

Now what sounds better, waiting for an sequence of events as likely as the equivalent of getting hit by lightning twice in a row, attacked by a shark and then getting hit by a bus in the same day to happen to your team or do the equivalent of hitting on every single hand of blackjack until you hit 21?

I’d argue that far more teams have become successful playing as well as they can, improving via trade and FA, and scouting well. Here’s a short list of teams I can think of that didn’t tank and are in a great spot right now whether by measure of current success or trajectory:

Boston, Utah, Denver, Houston, Golden State, Sacramento, Portland, OKC, Milwaukee, Indiana

Here’s a list of teams that notoriously tanked and are doing well now or have a franchise player as a result:

Philly, NO, Minny, MAYBE NYK with Porzingis and MAYBE PHX with Booker and we’ll see with Ayton.

My point is that, while there will be great players at the top of the draft each year, perpetually tanking until you’ve somehow become a contender isn’t some surefire way to success. At some point you have to develop the guys you drafted and implement a winning culture. I think that’s what we are doing... finally.

There is no magical formula for the draft either. Think of how many busts there are in the top 3 every year. Think of how many guys just AREN’T franchise talents, but are solid NBA starters in the top 3-5 every single year, which also doesn’t save your franchise, but puts you right where we are at the moment.

[Blue_and_Whte]

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

Do you have children?

I’ll answer this one for him. No he does not and I’m 99.9% he doesn’t have a wife either. No married man or father would ever have this response.

mr2good be like

[Optimus_Steel]

I think our offense will look better tonight.

Without our best scorer and passer? Yeaaaaa nooo.

[Optimus_Steel]

Is this...are you being serious?

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

Wow, It just 1 game out of 82 games. Having his first baby and all that is life changing to many. Everyone does things different. I'm assuming you don't have kids because if you did you wouldn't want this man to rush to play, despite just one game.

Life before work. A baby is only born once. Let him enjoy these special moments.

[basketballRob]

I think our offense will look better tonight.

Without our best scorer and passer? Yeaaaaa nooo.

His usage is 27.5% so we'll have more opportunities for the other guys. Hopefully Fournier and Simmons don't try to hijack the game with hero ball.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using RealGM mobile app

[MoMM]

Yeah dude, it's a home game. The birth happened TWO days ago and he was out at Disney Springs last night, he could be at the arena at 6:30 and be home by 10:00 haha. I'm sure the fam would be good for 3 and a half hours.

Wow, It just 1 game out of 82 games. Having his first baby and all that is life changing to many. Everyone does things different. I'm assuming you don't have kids because if you did you wouldn't want this man to rush to play, despite just one game.

Life before work. A baby is only born once. Let him enjoy these special moments.

If D12 didn't play one game every time he has a child, he wouldn't play for some seasons