Which category do you fall under? Tankers - wanting a team to lose for multiple yrs in HOPES of that team acquiring high level talent and ultimately becoming a winner. Recent example - 76ers. Tanked for years but still have not made it to a Championship. Kings. Never went anywhere. Magic. Never went anywhere. Builders - believing that if you BUILD a team through free agents, smart trades and by drafting good players that ultimately you will get to the Championship. Recent example - Rockets. Rockets started with Kyle Lowry, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin and other mid-level players, made smart trades and obtained James Harden. They made it to several WC Championships but failed to reach the Champion. Nets. Never went anywhere Lakers. Won a Championship in the bubble. Which do you think is best?
Are you comparing the Kings to the Lakers? Plus you do know the Lakers went like 10 years without making the playoffs after Kobe left right?
How about.... TANKERS - GSW 2008-2012. By 2015 they won the championship by building a core via...wait for it... (you guessed it).... tanking.
It’s time to let the kids grow and start the rebuild! Hopefully in another 3-4yrs we’ll be somewhat respectable and possibly nearing the event horizon of a championship! Go Rockets!!! ……. ……. …….
Depends on the circumstances: *Players available.....poor draft class / deep draft quality ? *Number of Picks....One First Rd Pick per year or multiple? Drip-Drip or Crank it Up A Notch? *Scouting/Team Management.....poor judge of quality then poor rebuild. Good judge of talent then the process can/is expedited. *System design.......No scheme/system then you are steering without a rutter. Best Player Available does not always fit system/scheme. Often ends up both the player and the coach look bad and player development can be stunted as a result. Translation: player doesn't progress and therefore trade value stays low or at a minimum. Exchanging karats of gold into just carrots. *Player Development staff.....nowadays team have learned this matters a ton. A good developmental staff accelerates the process. _________ Rockets have had multiple first round picks The kids are willing to learn The kids are willing to work The Silas scheme can work provided the right players. He likes PnR and we haven't had willing screeners for his two years. Out with Wall/Woods and in with Bari/Tari/Sengun/Garuba Rockets have a good developmental staff. I just wonder how much Barbara Turner leaving will hurt the development? Was she a big part of that? I said Diop was a bad "Big Man Coach".....I'm glad he is gone.
The draft odds have introduced more luck into the equation. You already have to be lucky to be terrible in the same year as the as the franchise changing prospect.
Ideally, I think you want a little bit of both. I don't think there's only way way to build a contender from scratch in this league. Starting with young, drafted players you can develop yourself and whose contracts you have a little more control over long-term is a damn good start. Most contenders historically have at least 1-2 foundational pieces from the draft, even super teams that acquired other stars via trade like the late 2000s Celtics, the Kobe/Pau/Odom Lakers, the Heatles, etc. But when you know you've got those stars and foundational pieces in place, that's when you can start maneuvering to add other stars and veterans around them. The Rockets might have a future superstar or two on this team; it's hard to know right now. But you can almost guarantee that even with all the young talent on the roster, if the Rockets become serious contenders in 3-5 years, one of their top core guys will be someone they didn't draft. You have to be able to add players via free agency and trades as well.
I think what you're really referring to is a slow rebuild primarily through the draft vs exhausting all resources for putting the best team on the floor at all times. In your example of 'builders' the rockets were on the winning side of what is considered one of the top 5 worst trades in nba history. The other 2 examples are LA/NY free agent signings (and a forced trade) because the players wanted to play in those cities. At the end of the day, unless you're a destination city, it's just very difficult to build a championship team if you don't draft at least some of your best players.
The tanking is done and the building has begun. We've stocked up on talent and still have plenty of draft picks. Roll the ball out and let the kids grow. If they lose we get a better pick but its time to start building a winning environment through effort and consistency combined with our raw talent. Then the team will have a better evaluation of the NBA talent level of our current picks and be able to continue to add through free agency and the draft to hopefully have us competing for the playoffs in the next few years.
The assets to get OKC James Harden are a totally different set of assets than the assets required to get prime Rockets James Harden. There was a lot of luck involved with Harden. No one knew Harden would blow up to be a perineal MVP candidate.
The kings have never tried to tank, they have always tried to build, you put them in the wrong category. Philly was a pure tank that was cut off at the knees when they lost their brilliant gm in favor of a moron and went from tankers to builders. history and logic says tanker >>>>>>> builders
the problem with these type of scenarios is if everyone tanked then there wouldn't be any advantage and that's the problem we have right now. too many teams are tying to lose and that's just not possible.
