Has our future position gotten better, worse, or stayed the same since trading Rudy/Donovan?

[Hornacekamania]

I think it has gotten worse, but not because the path we took was the wrong path initially. I think that 2022 team had exhausted its opporunities for contention and we had extremely limited avenues for improvement. That was an aging team that didn't seem like they liked each other very much(especially the two stars of the team) and was asset poor(except for Mitchell and Gobert).

I still think Ainge and Zanik made a mistake not leveling the team to the ground the very first year in an attempt to extract some marginal value... and all we got out of those is what? LAL pick that will end up in the 20s. Those two years in limbo were horrible decisions where we tried to be competitive, failed and missed on the best prospects. I can't fault them for falling to 5 this current year. But what they did in 2023 and 2024 is definitely something that can be held against the FO. We wasted 2 years for nothing... For Taylor Hendricks and Cody Williams. I said it at the time and I will keep saying it - whatever you decide - you decide it and pick a lane. You don't try to balance between two different chairs because at the end you end up on the floor with none of the benefits of either path.

Completely agree with all of this. The 22-23 season felt like such a waste, and I really think the plan was to look average so they wouldn't be an embarrassment with the All Star Game. Last season as a mess.
I can't be mad at getting the fifth pick this year; I can be mad if they wind up wasting it.

 

[The Midnight]

I think it has gotten worse, but not because the path we took was the wrong path initially. I think that 2022 team had exhausted its opporunities for contention and we had extremely limited avenues for improvement. That was an aging team that didn't seem like they liked each other very much(especially the two stars of the team) and was asset poor(except for Mitchell and Gobert).

I still think Ainge and Zanik made a mistake not leveling the team to the ground the very first year in an attempt to extract some marginal value... and all we got out of those is what? LAL pick that will end up in the 20s. Those two years in limbo were horrible decisions where we tried to be competitive, failed and missed on the best prospects. I can't fault them for falling to 5 this current year. But what they did in 2023 and 2024 is definitely something that can be held against the FO. We wasted 2 years for nothing... For Taylor Hendricks and Cody Williams. I said it at the time and I will keep saying it - whatever you decide - you decide it and pick a lane. You don't try to balance between two different chairs because at the end you end up on the floor with none of the benefits of either path.

Pretty clear to me they didn’t wanna do that cos they wanted to keep selling tickets.

That’s the only explanation to the half-hearted approach.

The first 2 years of the teardown DA insinuated that he could go “big game hunting” and the local media and fans ate it all up.

Meanwhile we gathered enough rookies in the team and the fans continue to come to see them.

Go look at the ticket sales, they haven't dropped at all these past 3 years.

It was a calculated move by Ryan and DA to have the cake and eat it too.

Very smart on their part, but we were all fools for being a part of it.

Now we’re on a long road back to relevance and are back to square 1.

 

[Sardines]

LoL.. wayyy too many glass half-fulls on the forum.

The tanking route is a path that takes at least 4-5 years to bear fruits.

We’re at what, year 1?

Patience, my young padawan.

 

[Tanktastic]

I think there is a fundamental question here, that I don't have the answer for. Do teams who hit on later picks because they are good at drafting, or because they are lucky?

Teams make their own luck. You can't guarantee anything even by being the league's best at drafting. One Jokic can be luck. If a team is consistently either getting lucky or being unlucky, then that's proof of something.

It's also how much risk you take. If you pick the Taylor Hendricks type of players, no-one will probably blame you for messing it up, but the ceiling is extremely low. If you take risks with players that most have red flags on, you can get lucky. Like with Giannis (absolutely, completely raw), Jokic (fat, slow and what even is he) or Brunson (so, so small and no defense).

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Changed my vote to better, mostly because of Lauri. He's still a massive trade piece. He's the kind of player who can take a team from pretender to contender.

The teams at 2 and 3 are both perfect fits for Lauri. If they can get a deal done, I think everyone changes their minds on this question.

 

[homeytennis]

The monkey on our back at the moment is the pick owed OKC in the Favors salary dump. Thats on DL but Ainge hasn't exactly hit on his draft picks either.

 

[SoUjazzfan]

For me personally its gotten better. Around 240 hours a year now I can spend doing something productive other than watching Jazz basketball.

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

Can we trade Lauri for either pick two or three and keep pick #5?

 

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

The first 2 years of the teardown DA insinuated that he could go “big game hunting” and the local media and fans ate it all up.

Well he did try to trade for Bridges. Maybe that’s why the Knicks had to pay 5 picks for him.

 

[gomretat]

Easiest poll I have ever filled out on JazzFanz. Trading both of them made no sense at the time. And if you were going to trade both of them, blow it up and tank year one. This is the worst FO work in the NBA during this time period and the worst Jazz FO work since the moved to Utah.