Top 4 pick or Bust!

So you're saying it's looking like we're not on the path to rebuilding a championship contender merely 3 weeks after starting our rebuild?

 

A deeper than average draft is also a better time to have a mid-round pick

 

Package him with a House or Nwaba or someone on a cheap contract - mabye he'll even agree to a buyout!

Sure tell that to Miami so that they get us one.

The end result for the Rockets this year is irrelevant (unless Miami craters).

You won't remember it fondly or at all if it's 4th worst or if it's 13th worst.....a successful tank is the best way to become relevant again.

 

http://www.tankathon.com/

Really good website for keeping track of the situation.

 

The Knicks and Cleveland are on the rise, and we want OKC to have a worse record.

We're a John Wall injury from wallowing in the mud.

 

We don't want them to take up one of the 4 worst records, which gives us the most chance at ping pong balls for the lottery...and if we win the lottery and get a top 4 pick, then it is protected from the swap.

 

Not really, the best way to become relevant is to get a max free agent.

The last 3 champions all their game changers came by free agency rather than tanking. In fact cant remember the last champion that won via tanking man. You can argue the Robins have come via tanking, guys like Irving, Wade and AD in a way were only possible via tanking, but we already skipped that step with Wood and our rookies IMO.

If you tank sure you may get a lotto pick, but a losing team wont attract FAs and it wont encourage Wood to remain long term. OTH that lotto pick wont make you relevant any time soon I mean just look at Dallas, had Lebron of the new generation currently getting pounded by GSW for 30.

 

Lol, we couldn't even get Carmelo to come here and had to settle for Jeremy Lin... and even he didn't want to be here. We liberated Harden from an even worse backwater by trade. I am not optimistic that we somehow land a franchise cornerstone to a team that is basically treading water in a non destination city.

 

Dwight came here as FA as did Wood and Cp3.

 

And guess who was here when all 3 of those things happened (CP3 was a trade, but whatever)

I guess you could bank on some dumb GM sending a 23 year old generational talent our way in order to make Kendrick Perkins checks clear but...I'm not optimistic!

Tanking is no sure thing but all the alternatives you tout are even more of a long shot

 

Huh? How is signing free agents more of a long shot when we just did it? Meanwhile the last top 10 lotto pick Rockets had was Yao Ming back in 2000s but yeah be optimistic about that. And that resulted in how many rings again?

Getting a superstar via FA is a lot more probable than getting him via lotto and then keeping him long enough to win a championship. Thats just facts. Look at the top players in the world Lebron, AD, Giannis, Kawhi, KD, Harden only Giannis is still with his original team the rest won rings with another club.

 

In the past 3 seasons the bottom 4 team had a winning % of 30% or lower. That's equivalent to 21 wins or less in a 72 game season.

The rockets have only played 20 and have already won 10 and are on the verge of winning their 11th.

Trade or no trades, this team isn't going to be a bottom 4 team.

 

We just did it? We signed Dwight 8 years ago lol.

We have a bare cupboard now.

Getting Chris Paul to join a 55 win team featuring the real MVP is one thing. Dwight came on board with a 25 year old all NBA player locked in.

Look I like Christian Wood, but, no he's not even remotely that kind of draw and there's not even a good FA class this year.

Lebron is not just signing here.

 

And it's a huge mistake. They're not going to be a top 16 team either (as if it actually means anything)

This is a ~ .500 team - without any franchise players, that is exactly where you don't want to be

 

Cousins and Wood just signed in offseason. Thats a lot more realistic and practical and workable than dreaming you will get Lebron 2.0 in the draft. Theres no good FA class next year welp we only have 50% chance of keeping our pick next year as well.

Lebron is not signing here guess what we aint drafting Lebron either. You realize Wood is better than 75% of lotto picks in the last 30 yrs right?

 

Again how many tanking teams become champions vs tanking teams remaining sucky teams?

You gotta look at the stats you are like looking at Mark Zuckerberg and saying if he can drop out of college and be a billionaire you can be one too.

 

Perhaps. I just don't see any realistic way for them to tank once they didn't get rid of the other vets on the team when they traded Harden.

Short of telling Silas (who's waited two decades to get a head coaching job) and the players to purposely not compete/play/coach hard I don't see how they could've been bad enough.

When teams tank, they've typically had the front office assemble a truly terrible roster prior to the season or suffered early significant injuries to their stars or both.

Rockets went from a team expected to make the playoffs to trading away Harden but still having a team full of vets and talented players.

 

Using Cousins, isnt an argument. Cousins was on the last legs of his career. Woods came is a nice signing but he's trying to make an name for himself. Us signing him is not us signing an established superstar. That's why you tank multiple times, and get as many picks as you can. And no, no its not. Banking on yourself making a super team or getting a superstar is not more likely. What are you talking about? We have our pick next year dude.

Okay, but arent signing anyone even remotely close to him in FA either? So what is even your point. Is Wood better than 75% of top 4 picks in the last 30 years? Press X to doubt.

If anything this article incentivizes to try and get a top 4 pick.

 

Lol, nobody's saying it's a sure thing but there's a reason why Daryl Morey coined the phrase "mediocrity treadmill" and unleashed a horde of tanking acolytes on the NBA like Hinkie. They did the math!

it just maximizes your chances relative to other also unlikely alternatives.

Particularly for this year's Rockets, who literally lose their first round pick unless they successfully tank, and where the costs of tanking (presuming there are any,) are minimized

 

Lol I don't doubt the Rockets can attract more broken down players like Boggy Cousin. Come on man. He are perfect