Rockets are not far from homeless for 14 years anyway. I'd choose that 4% to be a king every year over Rockets' perennial homeless for nothing.
Yep, then your favourite management team should be the clippers, they are in the lottery every year, according to that logic, they have by far the highest chance of winning a championship in the future.
I like how you continually ignore that little facts like the Clippers aren't even trying to win. They have the worst owner in professional sports. I can't believe you really told me that I skew my arguments. If some of these other posters told me that I think I'd take it seriously, but good god, man. The Clippers?
The clippers encapsulate the philosophy you are espousing the best. Basically, if they don't think they have the core for a championship they will tank to get lottery picks. Unless you think they have somehow broken up a championship team or ever let a superstar player go in free agency or trade.
Exactly. The Rockets aren't the Clippers. Morey and the organization have proven (at least to me) that they know how to develop young players and maximize their potential. And they have proven they have a very good eye for potential talent. All the more reason to look for a way to get that high-lottery pick and see what Morey and the organization can build. If it means a losing season or two, so be it. I'm pretty sure barring injuries, Morey will do a far better job with high lottery picks than the Clips or other cellar dwellers have been able to.
That's not what they do at all. They never even attempt to win a championship. They pick in the lottery every year and seldom sign their players to big extensions or try to sign big name free agents. They just let their talent walk and continually stay in the lottery. It's well known that Donald Sterling doesn't care about winning so long as the team remains profitable.
So is that your argument? That great GMs don't tank, and if they do, their team ends up like the Clippers? Because...they're not great GMs I guess?
Bring facts. Tell me a single superstar they have let walk. Tell me a single championship contender they have broken up. They never sign their talents to big contracts because their owner subscribes to your theory of avoiding mediocrity, tell me a single talent they could've signed to an extension that would've made them contenders? If the clippers were managed properly, they would have a good playoff team with no chance for a championship, so instead they choose to tank. They try to sign FAs all the time, they tried to sign Kobe, they tried to sign Lebron. They even did sign Baron Davis. Bring facts.
They matched Miami's offer for Brand in 2003 too, and tried to pair him with Davis later (but Brand bolted).
I don't believe they actually tried to sign either of those players. I think they merely said they did for publicity. But as for players they've let walk - it hasn't been as bad in recent years because of the new CBA but once upon a time everybody just waited for Clippers to have their rookie contracts expire so they could sign them. That's how we obtained Maurice Taylor. In so far as naming a single superstar they've let walk - first I'd have to name a single superstar they've had. Blake Griffin looks legit to me, but Elton Brand is as close to a legit star they've had in the twenty years prior to that. And he definitely walked. And that's not "my theory". Thanks. The Rockets could never be a franchise like the Clippers. We're entirely too well managed. Except that most every team that has ever won a championship DID "tank" at least for a season.
Like I said earlier, they tried to keep him, but he bolted the second time he was eligible for FA. He actually opted out of the last year of which would have paid him 16mil. Another problem with the tank and hope route.
Double Crap, you don't think they would've signed Lebron if Lebron wanted to go to the clippers? They offered to move home games to Anaheim if Kobe had signed with them. How the hell do you think Kobe managed to get a no trade clause into his lakers contract if the clippers were not serious about signing him? Mo Taylor and Elton Brand, two horrendus contracts, you can't give away Elton Brand right now. Your case for letting their stars walk is not very strong. Basically you can't name anyone. Exactly, too well managed to ever tank like the clippers. Absolute crap, most teams were winning teams where injuries happened to their main players. Not a single team has ever traded away productive players in order to lose enough games to play the lottery.
Understandable. It's probably a very thin line between intentially losing a few seasons and getting stuck in a culture of losing.
We may be in the lottery anyway. I'm merely suggesting we aim for a better spot in the lottery. And yes. Teams have done that. The most recent successful example is the Thunder. They traded Ray Allen for Jeff Green. Before that, Portland unloaded their whole roster to rebuild. Teams have definitely blown it up before. I didn't invent the concept, but I appreciate you trying to give me credit for the idea.
Please note that neither of these teams have won a single playoff series yet, and Portland has already fired two GMs, and OKC have fired one coach already.
You act like the Rockets have been extremely successful over the past years, you can bet your house on OKC winning a playoff series before the Rockets. Portland rebuilt well, I don't know why you act as if Roy, LaMar and Oden never did anything, they were playing extremely well, but they ended up having their 2 franchise players suffer major injuries and now they are going no where. Sound familiar? Portland are Rockets 2.0, now they are not good enough to win anything and not bad enough to get a high pick. You can see that, but why can't you see the Rockets are in the same position?
The difference is that there was huge question marks around Roy and Oden about their injuries prior to the draft, whereas there was no injury worries about Mcgrady or Yao before houston acquired them. So I wouldn't say they rebuilt well, they rebuilt very poorly. Half the NBA is in that position, the answer is to improve the team, not trade everyone for draft picks and tank.
