Game 73: Sacramento Kings (36-36) @ Los Angeles Lakers (31-41) - 9:30 PM ET

[Landsberger]

I would much rather lose this game. Come on, Kings!

Boo.... you always want to win. Pick position is for losing teams....

Which is exactly what we are now.

We're in the middle of getting top picks.... and, as you say, we are a losing team. Not a coincidence either. No one that I can think of has "picked" their way to a championship in the last 40 years without trading and signing FA's. The fan base is beginning to resemble the Clippers I'm afraid. The Clippers picked in the top 10 for 30 years....

[Landsberger]

I would much rather lose this game. Come on, Kings!

Boo.... you always want to win. Pick position is for losing teams....

Which is exactly what we are now.

We've been picking high in the draft and we are still a losing team. It's not a coincidence either. The Clippers (and a lot of historically bad teams) picked in the top 10 for 40 years.... unfortunately the Lakers fan base is starting to resemble the Clippers with all this draft pick and "development" stuff. We need the top players in the game here.... we've always had them here and rarely if ever picked them with our own picks. We've always traded to get where we were. Magic, Worthy, Scott, Worthy and Kobe were traded for picks. Kareem, Pau, Lamar, Wilkes were all traded for outright. Shaq was a FA as is LeBron. We picked Nixon, Green, Fisher with our own picks....

[TylersLakers]

Boo.... you always want to win. Pick position is for losing teams....

Which is exactly what we are now.

We've been picking high in the draft and we are still a losing team. It's not a coincidence either. The Clippers (and a lot of historically bad teams) picked in the top 10 for 40 years.... unfortunately the Lakers fan base is starting to resemble the Clippers with all this draft pick and "development" stuff. We need the top players in the game here.... we've always had them here and rarely if ever picked them with our own picks. We've always traded to get where we were. Magic, Worthy, Scott, Worthy and Kobe were traded for picks. Kareem, Pau, Lamar, Wilkes were all traded for outright. Shaq was a FA as is LeBron. We picked Nixon, Green, Fisher with our own picks....

Your points are definitely valid but I don't think those situations are mutually exclusive.

For the position that we're in now, it's best to tank. It's just the way it is. Now, if Lonzo and Ingram were healthy and we could develop some cohesion with LeBron/Ingram/Ball/Kuzma, I'd want them all playing 28-30 MPG with each other and developing together. But, with Ingram & Ball out, our best method is to tank and lose games to increase the odds at landing a top pick. For either drafting purposes or trading purposes.

Now, where the Lakers have failed has been during the off-season. They need to start building a "team" and get off the boom or bust mentality. This is basically the last year of us having our young core on cost controlled salaries with the abilities to add to it with significant cap space. And you're totally right, it's not good to pick in the lottery every season. It's embarrassing they're in the position they are now with a lottery pick but that's because the front office (Mitch/Jim & Magic/Pelinka) have failed in the team building aspect.

[Landsberger]

Which is exactly what we are now.

We've been picking high in the draft and we are still a losing team. It's not a coincidence either. The Clippers (and a lot of historically bad teams) picked in the top 10 for 40 years.... unfortunately the Lakers fan base is starting to resemble the Clippers with all this draft pick and "development" stuff. We need the top players in the game here.... we've always had them here and rarely if ever picked them with our own picks. We've always traded to get where we were. Magic, Worthy, Scott, Worthy and Kobe were traded for picks. Kareem, Pau, Lamar, Wilkes were all traded for outright. Shaq was a FA as is LeBron. We picked Nixon, Green, Fisher with our own picks....

Your points are definitely valid but I don't think those situations are mutually exclusive.

For the position that we're in now, it's best to tank. It's just the way it is. Now, if Lonzo and Ingram were healthy and we could develop some cohesion with LeBron/Ingram/Ball/Kuzma, I'd want them all playing 28-30 MPG with each other and developing together. But, with Ingram & Ball out, our best method is to tank and lose games to increase the odds at landing a top pick. For either drafting purposes or trading purposes.

Now, where the Lakers have failed has been during the off-season. They need to start building a "team" and get off the boom or bust mentality. This is basically the last year of us having our young core on cost controlled salaries with the abilities to add to it with significant cap space. And you're totally right, it's not good to pick in the lottery every season. It's embarrassing they're in the position they are now with a lottery pick but that's because the front office (Mitch/Jim & Magic/Pelinka) have failed in the team building aspect.

Yup... I agree but does the FO? That's the question. This team lacks balance and depth. The depth was OK when we were at 100% but the injuries just killed us. I'm wondering if Ball and Ingram can play a full year. We've made a lot of a mid-30's LeBron injury and we just seem to brush off the fact that these guys have missed 1/3 of their careers to this point.

All I hope for the offseason is that we don't chase a top name for 3 weeks while everyone else gets signed. I think a "second tier" guy like Vucevic would be a great addition along with a true 2 guard who can get to the hoop and finish. Neither have to be marketable names for me.... for the FO it's a different story however.

[Spens1]

Boo.... you always want to win. Pick position is for losing teams....

Which is exactly what we are now.

We've been picking high in the draft and we are still a losing team. It's not a coincidence either. The Clippers (and a lot of historically bad teams) picked in the top 10 for 40 years.... unfortunately the Lakers fan base is starting to resemble the Clippers with all this draft pick and "development" stuff. We need the top players in the game here.... we've always had them here and rarely if ever picked them with our own picks. We've always traded to get where we were. Magic, Worthy, Scott, Worthy and Kobe were traded for picks. Kareem, Pau, Lamar, Wilkes were all traded for outright. Shaq was a FA as is LeBron. We picked Nixon, Green, Fisher with our own picks....

The problem is, we can't draw F.A's either (Lebron being our first in years) and we've downright sucked on the trade side as well. We need to actually develop some noteworthy talent with trade value. Right now all we have is Ingram (who is great but doesn't have trade value) Kuzma and Ball (who despite his strengths, basically put he has no value seemingly besides Phoenix).

[Ballerhogger]

I felt we ended the kings season this day so I liked this win