Race for Ping Pong Balls

[basketballRob]

OKC keeping SGA out for at least two more weeks. If he came back then, they'd have 9 games left including 3 against the Kings.

https://okcthunderwire.usatoday.com/2021/04/17/daigneault-provides-injury-update-on-shai-gilgeous-alexander/

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[billy5783]

OKC keeping SGA out for at least two more weeks. If he came back then, they'd have 9 games left including 3 against the Kings.

https://okcthunderwire.usatoday.com/2021/04/17/daigneault-provides-injury-update-on-shai-gilgeous-alexander/

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At this point there’s no way they bring him back. They’re too committed to the tank.


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[basketballRob]

Not a lot of difference between picking 4 and 5.


http://www.tankathon.com/pick_odds

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[GelbeWand09]

OKC keeping SGA out for at least two more weeks. If he came back then, they'd have 9 games left including 3 against the Kings.

https://okcthunderwire.usatoday.com/2021/04/17/daigneault-provides-injury-update-on-shai-gilgeous-alexander/

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At this point there’s no way they bring him back. They’re too committed to the tank.


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Brilliant by Presti. They started the biggest tank job ever exactly 25 games before season end. So they can lose 25 in a row, without breaking the negative record of 26 games.

[basketballRob]

OKC keeping SGA out for at least two more weeks. If he came back then, they'd have 9 games left including 3 against the Kings.

https://okcthunderwire.usatoday.com/2021/04/17/daigneault-provides-injury-update-on-shai-gilgeous-alexander/

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At this point there’s no way they bring him back. They’re too committed to the tank.


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Brilliant by Presti. They started the biggest tank job ever exactly 25 games before season end. So they can lose 25 in a row, without breaking the negative record of 26 games.

My only hope is that the Kings play them in like 3 out of the last 5 games, and they could try to out tank them by that time.

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[Orange Ave.]

I would like this said now in April of 2021: WeHam made a potentially phenomenal trade for Vuc.

The trade is set up to get us:

1. A first round round pick in the 5-10 range in 2021

2. Wendell Carter Jr. (who we are (generally) excited about as our starting center)

3. A first round pick in the 4-20 range in 2023

4. Improve our own 2021 first round pick to allow for tanking (the most important and least discussed part of the trade).

If the ping pong balls don't fall our way and we end up with four 2nd round picks and an injured Wendell Carter JR. for Vuc, it should be pointed out that that's the way the cookie crumbles, but the trade was at least set up to be a very, very good return for us.

(P.S. we also dumped veteran Aminu's contract on Chicago)

[jvdas]

I would like this said now in April of 2021: WeHam made a potentially phenomenal trade for Vuc.

The trade is set up to get us:

1. A first round round pick in the 5-10 range in 2021

2. Wendell Carter Jr. (who we are (generally) excited about as our starting center)

3. A first round pick in the 4-20 range in 2023

4. Improve our own 2021 first round pick to allow for tanking (the most important and least discussed part of the trade).

If the ping pong balls don't fall our way and we end up with four 2nd round picks and an injured Wendell Carter JR. for Vuc, it should be pointed out that that's the way the cookie crumbles, but the trade was at least set up to be a very, very good return for us.

(P.S. we also dumped veteran Aminu's contract on Chicago)

True.

If the lotto gods love us this year and we really can get away with a top 3 pick plus like the number 8 pick of the Bulls, this would be huge!

And tbh right now I don't see a route, where the bulls can get significantly better, especially with the danger of losing LaVine and not having their own pick. Vuc is getting older too, think he reached his peak performance level in our system the recent years. Therefore there should be a good chance, that the pick in 2023 also conveys in deep lottery territory.

But the most magic outcome would be, like you said, getting 4 2nd rounders out of it plus WCJ having a career ending injury.

[BDill012]

without:

AG going off vs Nets;
Fournier's game winner vs Suns;
Clippers resting PG & MCW having an impact;
Pelicans resting Zion & BI;
Bulls stinking it up & Ennis going off....

...we'd be 13-43, and sitting with the worst record (#1 tankathon) in the league. Sheeeeeit, that Cole game winner vs Wolves may come back to haunt us, lol.

This is true... the bottom three are the ones that bother me though. The Suns game was nice to send the three stalwarts of their era out with a win, mainly because there was so much losing. It was a feel good moment, but the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.

The Clippers and Pelicans are rough because that only happened because they rested players. The Bulls one was a little different because it still helped our draft situation with their pick and seeing how they are sliding, I am ok with it.

[ChosenSavior]

I would like this said now in April of 2021: WeHam made a potentially phenomenal trade for Vuc.

The trade is set up to get us:

1. A first round round pick in the 5-10 range in 2021

2. Wendell Carter Jr. (who we are (generally) excited about as our starting center)

3. A first round pick in the 4-20 range in 2023

4. Improve our own 2021 first round pick to allow for tanking (the most important and least discussed part of the trade).

If the ping pong balls don't fall our way and we end up with four 2nd round picks and an injured Wendell Carter JR. for Vuc, it should be pointed out that that's the way the cookie crumbles, but the trade was at least set up to be a very, very good return for us.

(P.S. we also dumped veteran Aminu's contract on Chicago)

Well said Orange and I agree with all of this. I am honestly surprised that we got as much for Vuc as we did. Vuc individually is a nice player and I applaud him for working on his game to improve and get two All-Star berths in his career so far but it was not working here anymore and we took advantage of a desperate team trying to appease Lavine so that he does not bolt. We got two 1sts, a young big in Wendell with a high floor/very good upside, cleaned up our cap and a solid expiring vet in Otto with his bird rights intact.

We all wanted this FO to take a direction and they have finally done it. This trade definitely has its risks but the rewards can turn out to be phenomenal if everything lines up correctly for us. Personally I am not going to stress out about other teams since the Magic have zero control on what they do. As long as we do our part, we will put ourselves in a great position to land some lottery luck.

[BCS]

without:

AG going off vs Nets;
Fournier's game winner vs Suns;
Clippers resting PG & MCW having an impact;
Pelicans resting Zion & BI;
Bulls stinking it up & Ennis going off....

...we'd be 13-43, and sitting with the worst record (#1 tankathon) in the league. Sheeeeeit, that Cole game winner vs Wolves may come back to haunt us, lol.

This is true... the bottom three are the ones that bother me though. The Suns game was nice to send the three stalwarts of their era out with a win, mainly because there was so much losing. It was a feel good moment, but the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.

The Clippers and Pelicans are rough because that only happened because they rested players. The Bulls one was a little different because it still helped our draft situation with their pick and seeing how they are sliding, I am ok with it.

Tbh the one that bothered me the most was that Twolves win....Great moment for Cole and exciting for sure....but it was the Wolves....without that game alone we would be only 1.5 game behind them, that is why you need to get those games.

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[basketballRob]

All we have to do is lose the final 15. Since we play Detroit once, we'll be at worse the 3rd seed. So 15 games for possibly a better decade.

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[ChosenSavior]

Ross will not be available in the Atlanta game according to Josh Robbins. His back is "locked" up.

[drsd]

Two key games coming up for Orlando.

@Atlanta: the Hawks is currently the 4-seed and this is a classic trap game for them.
New Orleans: a win here by the Pelicans really surpasses the ability of the Bulls to overtake in the lottery ball race.

[drsd]

The Bulls has a 5 road games in 6 now.
@Boston
@Cleveland
Charlotte
@Miami
another @Miami
@New York

a 1-5 record would be really great for Orlando.

The rest of their season does not really lighten up.
Milwaukee
@Atlanta
Philadelphia
@Charlotte
Boston
@Detroit
Brooklyn
Toronto
@Brooklyn
Milwaukee

I could see a 4-12 close-out for the Bulls to end the season.

..

[MagicFan101]

Not a lot of difference between picking 4 and 5.


http://www.tankathon.com/pick_odds

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It’s not just the odds, it’s also one addition spot you are able to fall to.

At #4 the worst we fall is #8.

At #5 you can fall to the #9 pick.

As unlikely as the worst case is it’s still something to consider. Perhaps not really an issue at that point as the real prizes are not between #8 vs #9 but still.

[GelbeWand09]

Not a lot of difference between picking 4 and 5.


http://www.tankathon.com/pick_odds

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It’s not just the odds, it’s also one addition spot you are able to fall to.

At #4 the worst we fall is #8.

At #5 you can fall to the #9 pick.

As unlikely as the worst case is it’s still something to consider. Perhaps not really an issue at that point as the real prizes are not between #8 vs #9 but still.

Yea the odds are not really that important. But the higher you get the softer you fall.

[pepe1991]

2019-20

where they were ranked vs where they drafted:

Warriors 2# pick
Cavs 5th pick
Minessota 1# pick
Atlanta 6th pick
Pistons 7th pick
Knicks 8th pick
Bulls 4th pick
Wizards 9th pick
Hornets 3rd pick





2018-19

Knicks 3rd pick
Suns 6th pick
Cavs 5th pick
Bulls 7th pick
Hawks 8th pick
Wizards 9th pick
Dallas 10th pick
Pelicans 1st pick
Memphis 2 pick


In both cases teams outside top 3 leapfrogged to top 4 slots and pushed away heavy tankers. Outside of worst record, who is still guaranteed to keep top 5 pick, it really doesn't make that much difference being 3rd or 6th worst, in both cases odds are against you to draft in top 5.
What is actually objective, is that somebody that has 4-10th pick jumps to top 3. Happend both years and in 2019 with top two picks both went to non-tanking teams.

[Xatticus]

without:

AG going off vs Nets;
Fournier's game winner vs Suns;
Clippers resting PG & MCW having an impact;
Pelicans resting Zion & BI;
Bulls stinking it up & Ennis going off....

...we'd be 13-43, and sitting with the worst record (#1 tankathon) in the league. Sheeeeeit, that Cole game winner vs Wolves may come back to haunt us, lol.

This is true... the bottom three are the ones that bother me though. The Suns game was nice to send the three stalwarts of their era out with a win, mainly because there was so much losing. It was a feel good moment, but the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.

The Clippers and Pelicans are rough because that only happened because they rested players. The Bulls one was a little different because it still helped our draft situation with their pick and seeing how they are sliding, I am ok with it.

Yeah. It's interesting. You have to believe that the decision hadn't been made at that point and that perhaps Chicago upped their offer and the front office decided to pull the trigger on all three deals at that point. It just doesn't make sense to play those three guys in that game if the decision had already been made and the deals were imminent.

[zaymon]

without:

AG going off vs Nets;
Fournier's game winner vs Suns;
Clippers resting PG & MCW having an impact;
Pelicans resting Zion & BI;
Bulls stinking it up & Ennis going off....

...we'd be 13-43, and sitting with the worst record (#1 tankathon) in the league. Sheeeeeit, that Cole game winner vs Wolves may come back to haunt us, lol.

This is true... the bottom three are the ones that bother me though. The Suns game was nice to send the three stalwarts of their era out with a win, mainly because there was so much losing. It was a feel good moment, but the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.

The Clippers and Pelicans are rough because that only happened because they rested players. The Bulls one was a little different because it still helped our draft situation with their pick and seeing how they are sliding, I am ok with it.

Yeah. It's interesting. You have to believe that the decision hadn't been made at that point and that perhaps Chicago upped their offer and the front office decided to pull the trigger on all three deals at that point. It just doesn't make sense to play those three guys in that game if the decision had already been made and the deals were imminent.

Maybe the decision was made, but you still want to have more leverage in negotiations. If we held our trio back their value can go down regardless if we made the decision or not.

[RookieStar]

I would like this said now in April of 2021: WeHam made a potentially phenomenal trade for Vuc.

The trade is set up to get us:

1. A first round round pick in the 5-10 range in 2021

2. Wendell Carter Jr. (who we are (generally) excited about as our starting center)

3. A first round pick in the 4-20 range in 2023

4. Improve our own 2021 first round pick to allow for tanking (the most important and least discussed part of the trade).

If the ping pong balls don't fall our way and we end up with four 2nd round picks and an injured Wendell Carter JR. for Vuc, it should be pointed out that that's the way the cookie crumbles, but the trade was at least set up to be a very, very good return for us.

(P.S. we also dumped veteran Aminu's contract on Chicago)

Agree. As much as soooo many of us rag on our WeHam GMs, you have to admit they did a good job being patient and building the value of Vuc to be able to net this much haul.

Same or lesser extent with AG as well. t was only Evan where his value didnt improve for us.