They were back in the conference semis after four losing seasons with a single top 10 pick, Dante Exum, who was not a factor in returning to the playoffs. We're now heading into the fourth losing season since we were last in the playoffs, and everyone here seems to be more interested in trading away talent and accumulating draft picks year after year with an indefinite timeline for returning to contention than they are in actually returning to contention. The losing could easily stretch to 6 years under this scenario. That requires a lot of winning post-tank to earn an acceptable ROI on the losing investment. The post Al Jefferson era is not a good model for what is going on now.
What's the plan if we don't find that one special player this draft, or the next draft, or the next draft? What's the cutoff point where we stop pining our hopes on the lottery and actually start being proactive building a winning team via other means?
Assuming we do find that one special player this year or next, how long till we return to contention when our roster is fully stocked with rookie contracts or sub-optimal talent because we traded all the good talent away while crossing our fingers to get lucky in the lottery? Even with Wemby, the Spurs are two years in without a single playoff appearance and six years of losing to show for it. (With Wemby, they were heading for the play in last year.)
What's the minimum ROI you expect for 6 years or more of losing?