Skin wrote:ezzzp wrote:Skin wrote:Tanking is only part of it. You have to choose the right player.
Oh is that all?
For every anomaly high pick star, I can point you an anomaly low pick star...and that's a trend that is increasingly widening.
The data used for tank logic is based on incompatible information and microscopic sample size...most of which occurred prior to the CBA changes, prior to various lottery reforms, prior to the dramatic change of age that players entered the NBA, prior to the era of player empowerment dramatically changing player movement etc etc etc...
What most of the tank teams conveniently leave out of their "hope" and "great future" propaganda is that it's a rarity that those "tank" acquired players will reach their prime "star" level on the team that drafted them. It is even more
extremely rare that they carry their draft team to contention. The norm is that those players are long gone before or at their first unrestricted free agency and get poached by the smart franchises.
If you think we have the right front office then yeah... that's all. Get a high pick, pick the right player.
All too often, trash GMs follow the draft media pundits and mock drafter rankings in order to save face in case the player doesn't pan out. I actually like our front office in terms of drafting. They don't seem to be afraid of drafting according to beat of their own drum. Okeke was a reach to most, but they stuck to their beliefs. I think he'll pan out... we'll see...
I think our problem is that we haven't been in position to draft any star talent. Making the playoffs was about as neat as watching water dry in the sun. The whole "we have a winning culture now" and "we know how to win now" and "we know how to play with each other" hoopla is just that... words to help preseason ticket sales.
What are our expectations supposed to be for this year?
My expectations are that the team play +82 games that matter, and that the younger players develop inside that type of context. I 100% totally disagree that making the playoffs was meaningless from team building and from fan enjoyment pov.
Playing in +82 meaningful games is the best context for player development (as opposed to teaching players how to lose); its better for asset values; its better for franchise desirability in future free agencies...all that equals better options for transactional improvement (the most important tool in successful team building in contemporary NBA).
Its even better for the team's sustainability, that feeds the team infrastructure, that feeds the team performance...its all connected.
Tank teams, especially small market ones, go into fiscal cutbacks. They destroy the team's infrastructure to counter losses in revenue. They trim payroll - from infrastructural staff to players.
That's exactly how you get a strategy reliant on development of youth not having a player development department and only carrying a barebones coaching and training staff. Its how you end up hiring a head coach having ZERO head coaching experience, no college - not even junior college, no G-League, no international, not even high school head coaching experience. The absolute most important player development person on any team, much less a rebuilding one, had ZERO head coaching experience.
But hey, at least the Magic got to sell fans the hope and short lived hype of "potential" of the youngest GM in NBA history and his promise of a "youth movement."
