You must better define 'true rebuild'. Also, we currently have the league's longest playoff streak of 8 years, so I'm not clear how rebuilding a winning 'culture' is necessary.
Let's get to the trade deadline first, we're in a pickle, but not necessarily too bad. It is very likely that the Nets won't have a bad record this year and next year. OKC also won't be the worst, I would assume. Hoped we'd get a more immediate lottery pick from the Wizards. * Do not give a max to Oladipo and resign Boogie for a cheap contract if you must.
I am all for staying relevant while hording draft picks. Take good trades, don't try to tank for our lottery protected pick right now.
The way Hinkie gamed the system in Philly is how I'd like to rebuild. He kept collecting top picks until he was able to get one that he knew he could a team build around. Supposedly, he wanted Tatum over Fultz in 2017 but was fired (in a coup by Colangelo) before he could draft him. Imagine a team of Embiid, Simmons, and Tatum.
It's hard to say what I want because I know what we will do. We're going to do a retool with an eye for value, just like after the Yao/Mcgrady era. The young players on our team are dogs. They will play too hard to get a high pick even if we trade older players for future picks. We will trade guys like Tucker for picks if we think they'll ask for top dollar in free agency (or leave anyway). If a guy like Oladipo wants near max money, he's gone too. But, we may get good players back in those trades as well if they're on value contracts. The goal will be to position ourselves to trade good players (and out pics) for high lottery pics or other disgruntled stars. I would expect more Kevin Martin/Scola/Lowry type of years
Feels like a combination of both if that’s possible. Adding little pieces here and there all while stockpiling picks. Hoping the team builds a get up in your grill kind of mentality. I’m liking what I’m seeing so far.
Rebuild. Deep draft, no fans, no expectations. Wood is not so good so that wasting a year is a consideration that anyone should care about. What would wasting this year's christian Wood look like, missing out on the chance to finish .500? Who cares.
No one rebuilds by tanking successfully anymore - look at Philly.....or any number of teams that tried it...and failed. I am all about the new way of building through trades etc. DD
Ask me in two months. Nothing wrong with being the new Trail Blazers or the Grit and Grind Grizzlies. Fun team, playoffs, no real championship aspiration. That's the beauty of the Harden trade. We can rely on another team to do the tanking for us in the next 7 years.
It's too early to tell. We need to see what we really have. Bottoming out intentionally is a dangerous proposition when OKC has two of our picks and a swap starting in 2024. A "retool" is preferable if we can do it even beyond OKC having our picks starting in 2024 because bottoming out can take a long time to get out of. We also have a foundational piece on a below market contract in Wood. You don't get shots like that all the time so you can't commit to just wasting it without evaluating if there is a better alternative.
This is exactly what the Celtics did and they almost built a dynasty. Kyrie's moodiness and Gordon Hayward's injury killed it though.
And maybe the Nets are never as bad as we need them to be? The Rockets will still have multiple picks many years during that 7 year stretch (and a pick in every year). Combining picks to get into the lottery isn't unheard of. (2021, 2022 (at least 3), 2023 all with high chances at multiple picks) There are a ton of options. Right now, I'm enjoying a team with a defensive identity and a lot of kinks that can be worked out. It's the least stressed I've been about the team in 7 years. It's crazy how freeing it is as a fan to not have the worry of figuring what moves could be made to vault the team into true contender status every single year. Just fun basketball with house money. Silas smiling is all I root for. I hope he's the longest tenured coach in Rockets history.
So, they failed, so did Philly, so did OKC - and pretty much every team that tried to tank their way in the last 20 years has failed - the lone exception might be the Golden State Warriors. Picks are great for getting players that are blossoming or ready to contribute in a trade, but the guys coming in as picked unless it is top 3 or 4, are generally YEARS away from helping. Use the picks to pick up players like Oladipo - etc.....don't draft, we don't need to - just look at what we have. Wall - an All star player coming back from Injury Wood - a budding star player Boogie - an injury prone ex-dominant player Oladipo - a Star player - not a superstar one but a good one And we picked up Ego, Tucker, many other contributors along the way.......I like he way the Rox are doing things..... DD
I think a 3 year timeline would be a nice time to bottom out and see if we can compete. We would have consecutive seasons to get and develop high draft picks while developing Woods (our blue chip player); plus developing role players/super role players in Tate, Jones, and Nwaba. I feel like that might be a "long rebuild", even though it's a 3 season timeline.
Obviously the Nets situation will be key as well.... It'd be nice to start to develop a solid core by 2023/2024 while starting to cash in on increasingly higher Nets picks.
Wait and see. Problem with going immediate tank mode is that you don’t know the full value of your roster unless you try to win. You can rest your vets but in a “what have you done for me lately” league that will hamper their production and trade value. Further, it’s hard to know which talent is worth keeping and who’s expendable in a “rebuild”. There are people smarter than me who orchestrate these things, but I don’t see how anyone can know what kind of assets they have unless they’re playing to win. Someone mentioned in another thread that we initially overvalued Ariza because he was coming off a championship Lakers squad. Detroit sold low on Wood because they’re either a dumb organization or they thought Wood was putting up empty numbers on a bad roster...lo and behold, they picked up Jeremi Grant who might not have been on their radar had he not been featured on a good Nuggets squad in the bubble
I’m not in favor of a total rebuild! We have some intriguing players/picks that we could parlay for more talented.....who am I kidding, broke Tilly doesn’t have the stacks to do a retooling with top tier talent! I digress... ....... ....... .......
