The draft should end

Nah, the 6ers just really suck. There's no guarantee any of their players will pan out even when healthy next year. The lottery system does keep some parity in the league, it would be pretty depressing if the Spurs got a top pick at random. Gotta play ball and perhaps introduce cash penalties for concerted lack of effort or obvious tanking in the 2nd half of a season.

 

Yeah right, the 76ers will be playing in the finals in a few years time...

More likely scenario: they keep sucking, and the young guys don't develop as well as they could have. Young guys finish 4 year deal, and leave.
Look at franchises which have tried the 'stink and succeed' method - it simply doesn't work for them (OKC is by far the exception, not the rule).

The more 'normal' method to get strong is something like the Clippers have recently done. For years they tried the 'stink and succeed' model (but it was 'stink and suck'). Then they made the move to bring in a proven player (Chris Paul) to add to a young talent (Griffin). Added some vets, and off they went.

 

#HotSportsTake

 

Not every team will suck perpetually because some owners are not okay with losing 30% attendance rates year on year for 5 or so seasons just to get back to being competitive.

Philly has always had poor attendance though and to be honest its a really poor NBA city given the size and the number of elite players who have come out of the city (not to mention the number of great college basketball programs in the city: Villanova, St. Josephs & Temple).

The AI era was big because he was such a megastar in that city, but after he left nobody showed up even when they were competitive and going to the playoffs, still had poor attendance. I think one of their playoff series I remember watching with Iggy, they were at maybe 70% capacity.

 

I think Boston's rebuilding effort is much more admirable than Philly's.

They went out and got a coach who can actually motivate his players to play hard every night. And they're not horrible. No foundation yet to build a championship contender, but they have acquired tons of assets, and can be an attractive team for a star player to sign for.

 

Basketball is the only sport where people seem to care too much about tanking.

 

and its also the only sport where the worst team that tanks the most almost never gets the first pick

 

It seems that there is a monthly draft and tanking thread. Maybe we should just sticky an "Official draft reform ideas thread."

 

owners say they're still 'losing' money. you want the irrelevant teams stuck in mediocrity to be somewhat relevant? allow every team that missed the playoffs to have an equal shot at landing a high pick. problem solved. but nooo it makes too much sense.

 

This is a tanking on a whole other level compared to what the clippers ever did.

And I'm pretty sure the 76ers will very very good in a few years for a loooong time. They have some options in which way to go with so many assets it's crazy.

 

Yet they still don't have a star player.

 

Yeah well there is no way I'll remember this thread 3-4 years from now but the 6ers will not be lacking in star power.

 

If lots of people try to tank, the strategy doesn't work anymore because most of them won't get the top pick. Besides, lots of teams are perennial losers and regularly have top picks and they get nowhere. It's not really a proven strategy for success.

 

They will be very very good. They are going to get way better each of the next 3 seasons. They've kept their costs low. They have cap space. They have a stockpile of picks that will give them more chances to make good picks in each draft. Their young guys are being given tons of personal training, attention and care. They are drafting well so far, though it's early days.

I don't have a problem with it. This is a well planned strategy. It's not just losing and hoping to hit the jackpot. The organization is geared to building a young team from scratch and be patient till their players grow up. That's fair. I prefer that over teams like the Wolves who should be tanking but instead are making fans watch a team which is not good enough for the playoffs, not bad enough for lottery and a payroll like a contender.

 

1. I don't have any problem with what the Sixers are doing. The players try to win, it's just the GM has stripped them of any experienced players. Not every team is going to be great or even decent every year. You have to have some teams at the bottom. And, if you punish teams too much for sinking to the bottom (or don't help those teams enough), you'll have teams sacrificing long-term viability for short-term wins. I hope the Sixers do succeed and become perennial contenders. I don't think that'll have everyone jumping on the tank though. It's not a new idea, and teams know there are risks and costs in doing it.

As for solutions though, I don't think ending the draft is a smart way to go, even if stopping tanking is a good idea. You could say that, in general, the bad teams will have the most money available to scoop up the best rookies. But, the glamor cities are always going to be at the front of the line when they want to be. If the Knicks see the next Lebron James is developing in high school, they can arrange for maximum cap room the year that kid is likely available, and which one will the rookie pick when its equal money, Milwaukee or New York City? Well, what if we took off the max too, so MIL can offer more if they're more desperate. No, NY wins there too because they have so much more revenue that they can pay big payrolls better than MIL can. And, the Next Lebron James knows he'll have endorsement and other opportunities from his fame, and what better stage than an NYC team? So the glamor cities win every time.

All this happens already with big free agents. Teams like MIL are rarely in the running to pick up a franchise player in free agency without some prior relationship. The draft is a good counterweight for this advantage big cities have in free agency. It gives the small markets an avenue of getting great players without the player having a choice. And, it gives them a relationship with that player to leverage later to keep the franchise player as a veteran. Throw rookies into free agency and you may as well contract that smallest half-dozen teams.

 

Championships take elite veterans. Elite veterans don't develop on tanking teams. Philly has Noel and the new Greg Oden. Nothing about them screams future champions.

Also, the fear of everyone in the league tanking is impossible. As more teams do it, the desired outcome is less likely, making the race to the bottom less attractive. Hinkle is just exploiting an inefficiency no one else has because he has ownerships blessing and guaranteed job security.

 

I think that, if you ask all the people involved in decision-making in the NBA regarding tanking / moving pieces, most of them won't want to adopt a "wait-and-see" method like the 76ers are doing.

It frustrates them. It frustrates the fans. It inhibits any sort of audience, leading to inhibition of appeal.

If it works out for the 76ers, more power to them. But the more you lose, the more people don't actively care about coming to games, imo. And that's the true test of this business.

 

The 76ers have two choices. Either over pay a perennial all star, or find a star in the draft. They picked their plan and are committed to it. I respect that.