Who is the worst positioned team for the rest of the decade?

[DavidSterned]

Blazers warrant a mention.

We have an awful ownership with one foot out the door, an aging star with an uncertain trade value who can no longer raise our floor, an underwhelming mix of assets otherwise, and an "interim" GM who completely pooped the bed at the trade deadline and yet our apathetic ownership appears to still support.

Further mediocrity appears likely but we can't rule out becoming Kings-north either at this point.

Well said. What would you want to do as a Blazers fan? Cash in on Lillard or let him become an Allen Iverson / Karl Malone figure for Portland?

Yeah, sadly I've made my peace with letting him go at this point. Both because he remains our most appealing asset and because it hopefully allows him to go and compete as his prime winds down. This "retool around Lillard" idea seems like gaslighting from our front office, with an ownership that seems increasingly like they're just trying to keep up appearances for a few more years and maintain a safe bottom line so they can fatten things up for a sale.

[kbitboc]

Very easy.The Lakers and it's not even close. They have zero 1st round draft picks until 2027(yes you're reading that correctly). They have Lebron James,who will opt out for Free Agency after next season. Russell Westbrook will be a Free Agent after next season.That leave them with a injury prome Anthony Davis and bunch of low tier role player/scrubs until Davis expire in 2025,which at that point,he will opt out for free agency. I wouldn't be suprised if from the 2025/26-2027/28 seasons,their best players end up being someone like Austin Reeves or Horton Tucker who both have ceiling of a low tier role players. Even the 80s Clippers or the 2010s Kings weren't this awful position wise and had some actual good players to work with despite of being terrible overall.

Who says the Lakers have no first round picks until 2027? After this current off season without a pick, they only lose 1 more first round pick. Then, they have one more season where they will swap the first round pick with the Pelicans and they get the Pelican's pick. So Lakers will have 3 first round picks the next 4 years after this off-season. People are talking out of their ass.

[theforumblue]

Lakers do not get premium free agent signings often at all . But they do get them more than some other teams, especially ones listed here. So I suppose they aren't the worst even if they don't look good at all.

[BenoUdrihFTL]

Will be interesting to see with the Lakers. You've got the typical shambles that LeBron likes to leave franchises in going vs LAL's perception as a destination franchise. Then there's the issue of the Lakers' front office being a dumpster fire...

Lakers looking like a pretty solid option in this poll

[Courtside]

If the Sixers re-sign Harden to a long term max deal, it's them, and it's not even close.

[Vampirate]

Does anybody trust the Kings front office at all?

Lakers have the brand to fall back on, so at worse they'll have a team that makes the playoffs post Lebron in the next decade.

Most of the other teams have actually made the playoffs and have had at least regular seasons where they've won more than not.

For the Kings, they're desperate to just make the playoffs now.

[ConSarnit]

I hate the lakers as much as the next guy and in terms of draft assets and assets in general they are lacking but they possess the single best asset in maybe all of the nba......Hollywood and a winning history.

Saying they are **** for a decade is just ignoring basically the history of the league in of itself. Bad ownership be damned there will always be another superstar who wants to be there. Once they get one another follows.

Playing in LA isn't as good of asset anymore like it used to be. Otherwise the Lakers would've been able to attract High Quality Free Agents while they were rebuilding in the mid/late 2010s outside of Lebron. Plus players who want to be in LA would just join the Clippers anyway(they have much better Ownership,a much better GM, and they have a Head Coach that players respect and like). So saying that they are screwed for the next decade would be correct. It could take even be longer than deacde before this team becomes relevant again if the Laker draft selections starting in 2027 ether are just poor selections or not well developed(the Lakers are not known to develop their young talent correctly).

how many chips did the clips win in the last 5 years again? we all know they are the preseason champs, that is worth something. also, making the playoffs is a huge accomplishment

You’re underselling the Clippers. The only reason they were a laughing stock is because they had the worst owner in sports history. Now they have a competent owner and are in LA. It’s not a coincidence stars headed there as soon as Sterling was gone. Lebron and Rich Paul wanted David Geffen to buy the Clips in 2010 because Lebron wanted to go to LA.

The Clips will be a force to reckon with going forward (not at the Lakers level) because guys want to play in LA. It’s similar to BKN. KD and Kyrie would have went to the Knicks if not for Dolan.

If you are a marginally competent owner of an LA or NY basketball team stars will want to play for you.

[ConSarnit]

Does anybody trust the Kings front office at all?

Lakers have the brand to fall back on, so at worse they'll have a team that makes the playoffs post Lebron in the next decade.

Most of the other teams have actually made the playoffs and have had at least regular seasons where they've won more than not.

For the Kings, they're desperate to just make the playoffs now.

It has to be the Kings.

Here’s a thought exercise: if you had to build a complete team from scratch would you rather have

a) LAL ownership/management in LA

or

b) SAC ownership/management in SAC

I don’t think LAL know what they’re doing but I’ll still give them a leg up on SAC just because they are in LA. SAC has terrible management AND no one wants to play there.

[MagicBagley18]

Playing in LA isn't as good of asset anymore like it used to be. Otherwise the Lakers would've been able to attract High Quality Free Agents while they were rebuilding in the mid/late 2010s outside of Lebron. Plus players who want to be in LA would just join the Clippers anyway(they have much better Ownership,a much better GM, and they have a Head Coach that players respect and like). So saying that they are screwed for the next decade would be correct. It could take even be longer than deacde before this team becomes relevant again if the Laker draft selections starting in 2027 ether are just poor selections or not well developed(the Lakers are not known to develop their young talent correctly).

how many chips did the clips win in the last 5 years again? we all know they are the preseason champs, that is worth something. also, making the playoffs is a huge accomplishment

You’re underselling the Clippers. The only reason they were a laughing stock is because they had the worst owner in sports history. Now they have a competent owner and are in LA. It’s not a coincidence stars headed there as soon as Sterling was gone. Lebron and Rich Paul wanted David Geffen to buy the Clips in 2010 because Lebron wanted to go to LA.

The Clips will be a force to reckon with going forward (not at the Lakers level) because guys want to play in LA. It’s similar to BKN. KD and Kyrie would have went to the Knicks if not for Dolan.

If you are a marginally competent owner of an LA or NY basketball team stars will want to play for you.

That’s great. I hope Clippers thrive. They will never ever ever ever ever (one more time for emphasis) be the lakers.

[xinxin]

If the lakers cant trade Russ this offseason, theyre screwed for the next 2 years. thankfully, theyre in LA and theyre the lakers & should be able to attract talent no matter what

Why two years? Russ expires next summer if he opts in.

true, but I'm thinking even if they get good role players & an all star FA after next year, team still needs time to gel .. so they'll probably still suck a year after Russ leaves.

[xinxin]

What is this LA can attract talent. It just isn't true. How many years did the Lakers miss the playoffs in a row, did they sign any big FA then? Before Lebron, no stars signed. After Lebron, you have to hope someone wants to play with AD, otherwise it's a team barely making the play in games

you're referring to the years, when the team had an aging Kobe, & he wasnt giving up leadership of the team no matter what.. not really the most enticing place for an up & coming all star or established superstar.. but as soon as he retired, Lebron knew the LA Lakers was the place to be. & he just beat the other stars (Kawhi, PG) to it.

& as some of the other posters have pointed out, the Lakers are a marquee franchise of the league. heck, 6 of the top 10 all time best players of the league (as per ESPN) have played (& won a ring) with the lakers for a reason... it's a winning franchise. who does not want to be part of that?

[mediocrityrules]

The Lakers can never be on a list like this. They just have too much pulling power to stay down for long, regardless of how inept their management is.

[jym85]

Insane the Lakers are in the lead
A bunch of haters

I'm going to pick the Kings until they clear house from the ownership down

[bearadonisdna]

Bulls should get a mention here. We suck as is right now, plus have 2 future 1sts owed. This time next year we can very well be handing over a top 10 pick for free. Might as well call us the Brooklyn Bulls

Cmon man , the bulls have 2 current all stars and despite losing a couple picks , have player assets that are arguably better than the picks they would convey.

Ex. Lonzo , Vucevic , Cobe , Caruso.

We are talking basically non lottery pick. Bulls need to figure out their annual 2nd half of season pointguard pantsing under Donovan .

[bearadonisdna]

Glad to see knicks with small vote .
Recently the Knicks have had war chest going to off-season , even though they debatably been fumbled .

[Dominator83]

Bulls should get a mention here. We suck as is right now, plus have 2 future 1sts owed. This time next year we can very well be handing over a top 10 pick for free. Might as well call us the Brooklyn Bulls

Cmon man , the bulls have 2 current all stars and despite losing a couple picks , have player assets that are arguably better than the picks they would convey.

Ex. Lonzo , Vucevic , Cobe , Caruso.

We are talking basically non lottery pick. Bulls need to figure out their annual 2nd half of season pointguard pantsing under Donovan .

More like Faux all-stars. Not even close to the same stratosphere as the real stars like Embiid and Giannis

[bearadonisdna]

Bulls should get a mention here. We suck as is right now, plus have 2 future 1sts owed. This time next year we can very well be handing over a top 10 pick for free. Might as well call us the Brooklyn Bulls

Cmon man , the bulls have 2 current all stars and despite losing a couple picks , have player assets that are arguably better than the picks they would convey.

Ex. Lonzo , Vucevic , Cobe , Caruso.

We are talking basically non lottery pick. Bulls need to figure out their annual 2nd half of season pointguard pantsing under Donovan .

More like Faux all-stars. Not even close to the same stratosphere as the real stars like Embiid and Giannis

theres a gap between all star and mvp caliber players.
zach and demar are legit all stars. the team under performed. The allstars apparently did their jobs.

[Pennebaker]

Why are the Lakers on there? LeBron is old but they still have AD. Any team that doesn't have a hall of fame superstar on contract is in a far worse position than the Lakers and that's most teams.

[Sleep]

Lakers. They're seriously considering Mark Jackson as a coach. Russ is washed. LeBron is declining and as long as he's there they'll continue to overpay for bad Klutch players. Davis can't stay healthy and is past his best. They have no cap space. Their role players are bottom of the barrel and they have no picks. Even healthy they're bad and they can't even do that.

[tarantism]

No mention of the Nets? Didn't they trade a boat load of picks to get Harden, who isn't even on the team anymore? They must be capped out and couldn't even make it out of the first round. Their best player is extremely injury prone and their second and third guys have major question marks.

I know we have a proclivity to assume they'll figure it out by sheer star power but I'm not sure they have the pieces they need or the means to acquire them. Anything short of at least one title in the KD era would be a failure I think.

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