Optimist Prime 197 Report post Posted April 14, 2017 Just because there have been bad number one picks doesn't devalue the pick itself. If you were given the choice to either pick in the top 5 or pick in the top ten, you take the top five. The question is how you get there. What Philly did was shameless tanking for full seasons. What people on the board are arguing the Magic should have done was accept that the team isn't good enough once it was proven they couldn't win with the team they had and aim for the best pick possible. If it's clear you aren't good enough and you're still waiting for that one piece to build around, you put yourself in the best position to get that piece. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Optimist Prime 197 Report post Posted April 14, 2017 Actually, Anthony Davis and the Pelicans is a good example. New Orleans is still bad. They have been struggling to sniff the playoffs since he was drafted. Should they tank? The answer is no, because they found the player to build around in AD. The problem is they haven't found the right pieces/system. They're best option is to try and put guys around AD that maginify his strengths and minimize his weaknesses. They need to create a system around him and find guys that fit that system. They need to attract high profile free agents with the prospect of playing with AD. Tanking at this point for them would be wasting years of production from their best player. The tanking strategy isn't the answer in every situation. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fultz4thewin 2,464 Report post Posted April 14, 2017 The argument that those guys weren't drafted by their championship teams is exactly the point. The Lakers or the Heat didn't hit the draft lottery to championships. They signed the talent away from the teams that hit the draft lottery. Us being one of those teams that lost our #1 pick talent. The Cavs got it back on the back end, by drafting Kyrie, and then trading Wiggins and signing LeBron. Without LeBron, Kyrie isn't lifting the Cavs to the promised land (and on the flip side, without Kyrie, LeBron probably isn't even back in Cleveland, let alone winning a championship there. Really, your 1 valid point to the tanking argument is present day Cleveland) Miami added the most high end free agent class of all time to a #5 pick. Wade wasn't winning 'ships without Bosh and LeBron, or Shaq before that. In fact, for the 2 years before Bosh and LeBron got there, Miami was that dreaded "mid seed playoff team" that everyone freaks out about being. After the Spurs won their first championship, who was Duncan surrounded by? Here's a hint: it wasn't lottery picks. Yes, drafting is crucial to team building. And yes, having a #1 overall pick obviously gives you a higher chance just by definition. But the draft is such a crap shoot, for every Kyrie and Anthony Davis, there's a Greg Oden, or Andrea Bargnani. And when you MISS with that higher pick? It sets you back even harder. Imagine how far back this franchise would have been set if we selected Okafor instead of Howard, which was a very realistic possibility at the time. Missing on that #1 overall pick would have killed us way more than picking a spot or 2 later and picking up a less than franchise changing player. You don't play to lose games for draft picks. You play the games to win and pick where you pick. You let the draft fall how it may, and do your due diligence to get the best results. You cross that bridge when you come to it. AND WE NOW LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE ITS CONSIDERABLY MORE DIFFICULT TO SIGN ELITE FREE AGENTS. Nobody is arguing that you can't build a team through free agency historically. But the last two cbas plus rising caps make it a high unlikelihood that a team could build through free agency. Everybody has cap space now. You can't sign and trade guys anymore so that the guy can get the higher annual raises on his new team. A team can offer their elite player a contract with dramatically more money. Maybe once the old cap contracts phase themselves out in two or three seasons we can start trying that again. Positioning ourselves as one of the few teams with cap space as teams choke on Evan Turner type contracts so we can say "hey towns, you really want to leave Minnesota but you have a choice between Orlando, Brooklyn, and Utah. And Utah already has a center so who's it gonna be?" Right now its "ok Blake Griffin, you want to leave la and have a choice between Orlando, Brooklyn, Miami, Boston, Dallas, Philly, Chicago, Denver, Indy, Minnesota, new York, new Orleans, and probably phoenix. Or just stay with LA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Magicman28 295 Report post Posted April 14, 2017 AND WE NOW LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE ITS CONSIDERABLY MORE DIFFICULT TO SIGN ELITE FREE AGENTS. Nobody is arguing that you can't build a team through free agency historically. But the last two cbas plus rising caps make it a high unlikelihood that a team could build through free agency. Everybody has cap space now. You can't sign and trade guys anymore so that the guy can get the higher annual raises on his new team. A team can offer their elite player a contract with dramatically more money. Maybe once the old cap contracts phase themselves out in two or three seasons we can start trying that again. Positioning ourselves as one of the few teams with cap space as teams choke on Evan Turner type contracts so we can say "hey towns, you really want to leave Minnesota but you have a choice between Orlando, Brooklyn, and Utah. And Utah already has a center so who's it gonna be?" Right now its "ok Blake Griffin, you want to leave la and have a choice between Orlando, Brooklyn, Miami, Boston, Dallas, Philly, Chicago, Denver, Indy, Minnesota, new York, new Orleans, and probably phoenix. Or just stay with LA. Yeah the new CBA has made the draft probably the most important way to build now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
