Race to the bottom: Who's our biggest competition?

[DetroitSho]

How many holes need to be poked in this argument before it stops being made?

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

When the lead is "Our TEAM has been trying to win most games" and finishes with "Casey is wasting an opportunity..." you can reasonably assume that the argument will never stop being made.

To me a logical assumption is that Weaver, Casey and even the players themselves are going for the best balance of development of players, development of a team, and positioning themselves for a good draft pick. Oh yeah, and that they know more about what that best balance is than the posters on this board.

There are 4 more games in the year. Seriously, get out of here with development or other BS playing Cojo and Ellington with 4 games left.

He had one job, lose 5 games. And he **** it up. End of discussion. These games dont matter. Stewart/Bey/Hayes career won't be hurt by not playing some worthless games at the end of a bad season.

Damn did I miss the press conference with Weaver saying this or did you pull it out your ass?

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

[theBigLip]

Our problem on the race to the bottom is that Cleveland, OKC, Minnesota and Houston "should" lose ALL of their games. Certainly wouldn't be the betting favorite in any of them. Maybe Minnesota could win the games I highlighted, but that's about it. The other hope would be that some of the opponents clinch their seeding and sit their good players for a game or two, letting our tank competitors to win a game.

Cleveland
Fri, May 7 at Dallas Loss 21 46
Sun, May 9 vs Dallas Loss 21 47
Mon, May 10 vs Indiana Loss 21 48
Wed, May 12 vs Boston Loss 21 49
Fri, May 14 at Washington Loss 21 50
Sun, May 16 at Brooklyn Loss 21 51

Oklahoma
Sat, May 8 at Golden State Loss 21 47
Sun, May 9 at Sacramento Loss 21 48
Tue, May 11 at Sacramento Loss 21 49
Fri, May 14 vs Utah Loss 21 50
Sun, May 16 vs LA Clippers Loss 21 51

Minnesota
Fri, May 7 at Miami Loss 20 47
Sun, May 9 at Orlando Loss 20 48
Tue, May 11 at Detroit Loss 20 49
Thu, May 13 vs Denver Loss 20 50
Sat, May 15 vs Boston Loss 20 51
Sun, May 16 vs Dallas Loss 20 52

Houston
Fri, May 7 at Milwaukee Loss 16 51
Sat, May 8 at Utah Loss 16 52
Mon, May 10 at Portland Loss 16 53
Wed, May 12 at LA Lakers Loss 16 54
Fri, May 14 vs LA Clippers Loss 16 55
Sun, May 16 at Atlanta Loss 16 56

[theBigLip]

It seems like we "should" get two wins and Orlando 1.

Detroit
Sat, May 8 at Philadelphia Loss 20 48
Sun, May 9 vs Chicago Win 21 48
Tue, May 11 vs Minnesota Win 22 48
Fri, May 14 vs Denver Loss 22 49
Sun, May 16 vs Miami Loss 22 50

Orlando
Fri, May 7 at Charlotte Loss 21 46
Sun, May 9 vs Minnesota Win 22 46
Tue, May 11 at Milwaukee Loss 22 47
Thu, May 13 at Atlanta Loss 22 48
Fri, May 14 at Philadelphia Loss 22 49
Sun, May 16 at Philadelphia Loss 22 50

So if this all happens in this and the previous post, final standings (not sure about tie-breakers) looks like this:

# Team W L
25 Orlando 22 50
26 Detroit 22 50
27 Cleveland 21 51
28 Oklahoma 21 51
29 Minnesota 20 52
30 Houston 16 56

[Invictus88]

Minnesota is a better team than you give them credit for. They had won 5 out of their last 6 befor losing their last 2 by only 4 points each. That is not a team trying to lose basketball games.

[theBigLip]

Minnesota is a better team than you give them credit for. They had won 5 out of their last 6 befor losing their last 2 by only 4 points each. That is not a team trying to lose basketball games.

Agreed, but looking at their opponents, it seems like 2 wins would be the most. That would certainly help us.

[So_cal_piston]

I want to see the losses add up to avoid the possibility of slipping further back in the lottery as bad as everyone else. That being said, some of y'all should stress so hard. Watch the 5th worse record land the number one pick and then everyone will be pissed saying "if only won that game against so and so." Who knows, maybe winning last nights game against Memphis just guaranteed us #1? I know it's hard having a positive outlook as a Pistons fan when it comes to lottery odds, but it's out of everyone's control how lucky we are via where we are in the standings at the end of the season. Here is to hoping for the best.

[Laimbeer]

Minnesota is a better team than you give them credit for. They had won 5 out of their last 6 befor losing their last 2 by only 4 points each. That is not a team trying to lose basketball games.

Agreed, but looking at their opponents, it seems like 2 wins would be the most. That would certainly help us.

We should have a good shot at losing to the Bulls and Minny I would think.

Come on, Casey. Put me in.

[bstein14]

I'm pretty sure that all 5 of the teams in the 2nd thru 6th race will end up with 21 or 22 wins. I do think Minny ends up with 22 most likely they should win 2 more... they might be the one team that ends up with 23 wins out of the group.

[bstein14]

The Bulls aren't tanking at all right? Doesn't Orlando have their pick? Or are they hoping to play bad enough that they have a chance at top 4 so they can keep it next year. It does appear it stays to Chicago only if they land top 4 in the draft. Right now they are tied for 7th/8th with Toronto at 27 wins. But they can't possibly fall to bottom 6 so in reality they are pretty much locked in that 7/8 spot with Toronto. They likely are playing to win.

Orlando got a great deal and Chicago got screwed on that trade. If Chicago would have given up that same package for Grant we for sure should have taken it.

[The Moose]

Plumlee and Grant are playing tomorrow against the Sixers tomorrow

Hopefully Sixers play the starters ffs

[ElectricMayhem]

Cleveland is down 62-37 to Dallas at the half, but I sense a rally coming on...

[buzzkilloton]

Plumlee and Grant are playing tomorrow against the Sixers tomorrow

Hopefully Sixers play the starters ffs

Literally, nothing to gain by letting these guys play. The sixers will very possibly rest at least Embiid tomorrow. They played a game today and are actually 3 games up on the Nets for locking in the 1 seed. The Sixers schedule is soft playing us,Heat,Pacers, and the Magic twice the rest the way so their not sweating anything.

[The Moose]

Plumlee and Grant are playing tomorrow against the Sixers tomorrow

Hopefully Sixers play the starters ffs

Literally, nothing to gain by letting these guys play. The sixers will very possibly rest at least Embiid tomorrow. They played a game today and are actually 3 games up on the Nets for locking in the 1 seed. The Sixers schedule is soft playing us,Heat,Pacers, and the Magic twice the rest the way so their not sweating anything.

hm hopefully they try to lock the 1st seed up. They are 2 wins away from clinching so maybe they try to get it done early so they can rest last 2 games against the Magic

[buzzkilloton]

Plumlee and Grant are playing tomorrow against the Sixers tomorrow

Hopefully Sixers play the starters ffs

Literally, nothing to gain by letting these guys play. The sixers will very possibly rest at least Embiid tomorrow. They played a game today and are actually 3 games up on the Nets for locking in the 1 seed. The Sixers schedule is soft playing us,Heat,Pacers, and the Magic twice the rest the way so their not sweating anything.

hm hopefully they try to lock the 1st seed up. They are 2 wins away from clinching so maybe they try to get it done early so they can rest law 2 games against the Magic

Yeah its possible they think locking it up now is better. They very well could prefer to play it safe and not have Embiid risk injury on a back2back. I'm sure they know even with just Simmons/Harris their very likely to beat us. We shall see tomorrow.

[The Moose]

Literally, nothing to gain by letting these guys play. The sixers will very possibly rest at least Embiid tomorrow. They played a game today and are actually 3 games up on the Nets for locking in the 1 seed. The Sixers schedule is soft playing us,Heat,Pacers, and the Magic twice the rest the way so their not sweating anything.

hm hopefully they try to lock the 1st seed up. They are 2 wins away from clinching so maybe they try to get it done early so they can rest law 2 games against the Magic

Yeah its possible they think locking it up now is better. They very well could prefer to play it safe and not have Embiid risk injury on a back2back. I'm sure they know even with just Simmons/Harris their very likely to beat us. We shall see tomorrow.

im keeping an eye on denver and miami's positioning too

Miami looks close enough with several teams that the last game should matter for some type of seeding, Denver however is really only competing with the Clippers, hopefully they stay within 1 game of each other

[Pharaoh]

I'm loving the activity in this thread but regardless of if we finished with the worst record or the 5th worst record it was always going to be up to Lottery Luck where we really land.

I want a top 4 pick, will be disappointed with 5 but

And regardless of where we do land I think it's safe to say the organisation is in a good position moving forward thanks to this FO.

It's about **** time!

Sent from my SM-G781B using RealGM mobile app

[El Chivo]

They're losing out. We f***ed ourselves, 6th worst record is coming

[Manocad]

They're losing out. We f***ed ourselves, 6th worst record is coming

Pffft. All the Pistons need to do is ensure that they drop the game against Minnesota; the rest are easy to lose. Do that and the second worst record is theirs.

[Moses ShamMoses]

I want to lose out as much as anybody but the reality is we're going to need lottery luck no matter if we are slotted 2-5. At slot 2 we still have a pretty good chance of picking 5 or 6 and missing out on the top guys. At slot 5 we have a similar chance as slot 2 to pick top 4. So yeah I want slot 2 so I don't see us drop past 6 but we'd miss out on the top guys either way in a bad luck scenario.

[Manocad]

I want to lose out as much as anybody but the reality is we're going to need lottery luck no matter if we are slotted 2-5. At slot 2 we still have a pretty good chance of picking 5 or 6 and missing out on the top guys. At slot 5 we have a similar chance as slot 2 to pick top 4. So yeah I want slot 2 so I don't see us drop past 6 but we'd miss out on the top guys either way in a bad luck scenario.

Exactly. I look at this way:
Cade - considered by most to be the #1 pick, and the only player with superstar potential IMO
Suggs, Green, Mobley - 2nd-4th picks in no discernible order, still considered to have star potential
Kuminga - generally considered 5th best
Scottie Barnes, Davion Mitchell, Keon Johnson, etc. - in no discernible order

People scream "This draft was our best shot at a superstar player!" but forget that the odds to pick in the top 4 are the same for the teams finishing with the worst through 3rd worst records, with only a slight drop for fourth worst. There is an 86% OR BETTER chance that the Pistons or any other team will NOT get Cade, and even Houston only has a barely better than 50% chance of picking in the top 4. Thus there was absolutely nothing the Pistons or anyone else could do to get a GOOD shot at #1, or even top 4, yet people are crying about how other teams are tanking right and Casey is screwing it up.