cjbulls wrote:Am2626 wrote:cjbulls wrote:Since the draft lottery began in ‘85, of the #1 overall picks, 6 guys have won an nba title (out of 35 obviously) as a key contributor
David Robinson (second banana to Duncan)
Tim Duncan
Shaq
LeBron
Kyrie (second banana to LeBron)
Anthony Davis (second banana to LeBron)
So 6/35, and even then there are only 3 that did it as the a true 1 or 1a player (interesting that all of the second banana guys relied on their other alpha #1 picks to get it for them). No one seriously thinks the three second banana guys could win a title on their own.
AND the three alpha #1’s were three of the highest touted prospects in nba history. That is not the case this year with Cade, who is a great prospect, but not on the level of Shaq/LeBron/Duncan as a prospect
It’s not having to get the number 1 pick or bust. In a good draft like the one coming up a top 5 pick can get you a franchise player.
And getting a top 4 pick can happen with the 10th best record. And the franchise player can happen at pick 12.
It’s all random enough that it doesn’t justify giving away players, not playing your best guys and prohibiting on-court growth of your current roster.
Yes completely agree. The only thing I will say is I don’t want to see guys like Otto, Thad Young, or Sato winning meaningless games for this team. None of these guys are going to be part of this team’s future and if they are the reason that the Bulls win too many games to miss out on a great draft pick that is a big problem. If wins come as a result of the development of the young core players that are expected to be part of the team’s future then that’s fine.
I go back to the 2003 draft when the Bulls had to take Hinrich instead of Wade and the 2018 draft where the Bulls ended up with Carter Jr. instead of possibly Doncic. In both cases the Bulls got unneeded wins from vets that had no future with the team. That doesn’t need to happen again.
Also there is a greater likelihood that a star player will come out of a top 5 pick than say pick number 12. A star can come later in the draft but it becomes more unlikely.