pacers33granger wrote:To add on to my earlier point, take a look at the teams left playing and where their top guys were drafted.
PHI: Simmons (1), Embiid (3), Harris (19), Butler (30)
TOR: Kawhi (15), lowry (24), Ibaka (24), Gasol (48)
BOS: Kyrie (1), Tatum (3), Brown (3), Horford (3)
MIL: Lopez (10), Giannis (15), Bledsoe (18), Middleton (39)
DEN: Murray (7), Harris (19), Jokic (41), Millsap (47)
GS: Durant (2), Curry (7), Klay (11), Green (43)
POR: Kanter (3), Lillard (6), Aminu (8), CJ (10)
Outside of Durant, there isn't really a top 5 pick playing like a star right now in the playoffs. And the majority of the best players were drafted outside of the lotto.
Exactly Butler and Leonard are killing it for their teams, Gasol is dominating the other centers defensively, Giannis is well Giannis, and Jokic (41) and Millsap (47) are destroying.
I was saying earlier in this thread that if we'd drafted better in 2009 to 2013 we'd be a juggernaut, could be Rudy Gobert, Turner, Kawhi, Dre Green, Victor, Domas and Teague or Jrue Holiday. Who's gonna beat that team? Maybe we wouldn't have been in a position to pick Turner, but the rest including the PG trade to OKC could very possibly happened.
You have to have good scouting and draft the best players available.