I see. Honestly looking across the NBA landscape though the only teams that I think will be tanking, tanking are the Jazz, Rockets, Thunder, Spurs, and Pacers.
the Hornets will join the tank race real fast... they gonna be awful. I think the Jazz are better than all those teams... so you are at 5... one team slips under and you are at 6... bottom 3 should be the target... bottom 4 is acceptable. 5 I think is most likely but not ideal... 6/7 is unacceptable.
The Hornets aren't that smart
I hope that Pop raises the Spurs floor, SGA/Giddey ball for OKC, Jalen Green takes the next step in Houston, and the Pacers end up holding onto Turner/Hield.
lol... it won't be by choice. Their second best player won't play one minute. Gordon already got knee soreness. The East is nasty. They were mid last year... they will be right in the bottom 7 mix.
Pacers have strong veterans like Turner and Hield (they are better and younger than Mike and Jordan) with better supporting cast. It look like SPURS and I hope the JAZZ are only teams to be focused on tanking.
Spurs are lead by the OG of tanking... Pop knows whats up. OKC is a maybe. SGA/Giddey and Dort are good and won't want to be managed... but they also have a lot of projects that could drag them. Jalen Green is more likely to lose you a game all by himself than win one. He's just not a winning player at all yet. Pacers a slight wild card. I could see them saying "oh tanking teams are selling veterans... lets buy some on the cheap and rise to the middle... where we like to be"
Turner plays 50% of the time... Hield is uhhhh not exactly a guy who has done a lot of winning. They may actually add a vet cuz they weird but I think they will be pretty awful.
Pop has won 30+ games the last 26 seasons in a row, I hope his competitive side takes over a little bit.
Personally, I think they waited too long to trade him. Think it would’ve gotten them a better offer to move him in the immediate aftermath of the DM trade.
I think they tried. I think they should have been looking to do the LA deal even earlier than the DM trade. I wonder if they could have got one Lakers pick... they seemed hung up on the value and not just that its the best deal that accomplishes our bigger purpose.
If I’m DA, I’m looking at Westbrook, Duncan, Tobias Harris and trying to find a deal that eats some of that salary. Also, might try trade Conley into a good situation - even if the return isn’t great. Still think New Orleans makes the most sense to me.
To be honest that part makes me doubt large portions of the rest of the article, including the Saric part.
I'd rather just cut Gay then turn him into Harris. I'd also keep Conley over Harris as I like him way more and he is a far more valuable expiring next year.
Sixers have been shopping Harris so no sweetener necessary. We get a scorer and a backup and manage to jettison some contracts in the process.
Curious what makes you think we are tanking? My understanding is we are building culture and will play our veterans significant minutes.
