One of the defining aspects of the Morey era was Les Alexander’s mandate to build a championship roster without losing. We went from McGrady/Yao to Brooks/Scola to Dragic/Lowry. Teams that mostly lived on the borderline of playoff contention, all without an obvious direction. What was happening in the background, slowly, was the acquisition of “pieces”. Morey was collecting nickels and dimes where he found them, saving them for the day that the right player became available. Welcome to Stones Mandate...it should be familiar. But what does it mean? 1) Don’t be surprised if Stone re-signs Oladipo in the offseason, so long as his contract is reasonable. He could definitely be traded at the deadline, but that is not the only option. If he leaves without re-signing...don’t panic. We will use the cap space to continue building our warchest. 2) Enjoy team basketball. It’s fun watching guys develop and carve out a niche in the league. 3) Timing matters. You don’t push everything into the middle until the stars align. 4) Don’t waste picks on glorified role players, or worry too much about “filling holes”. If PJ is traded and we don’t get a PF back, who cares? We aren’t trying to be perfect. We’re trying to move forward. Remember Chuck-wagon at the 5? The difference is that we are armed to the teeth with assets in a way we never were with Morey. I expect our time in basketball purgatory, caught between contention and tanking, to be short lived. We can spend the next 2 offseasons gaining flexibility, finding role players on cheap contracts, maybe trading for a a key developmental piece or 2. Just sit back and enjoy it, and know that Morey would’ve killed to be in the position we are right now back in the late 2000s.
we got lucky that Harden became available, multiple teams passed on trading for him, and he blew up and went from 6MOY to MVP/top 5 player which nobody saw coming as of now, we have no franchise cornerstone for the future, and I believe our best shot at acquiring one may be through the draft
Harden was a stroke of luck. We went from Hakeem to Stevie due to luck that he didn't like Vancouver. and then Yao through draft. It be decades before we get another Harden, or it could be 2 years from now that we strike gold. It sucks that we are not LA or NY where they can just land LeBron or Durant without doing a thing
i don’t disagree. But there is a huge cost to tanking. The value of your roster, as a whole, plummets. And it just stinks to watch...see the Astros. I am not saying we should expect a Harden to magically become available. Just that we need to learn some patience. We aren’t ready for contention. Wood, our best chance at a franchise cornerstone, isn’t ready for that.
Mavs won 24 games, got the 5th pick, and moved up to 3rd to select Luka Rockets need to suck and get a high lotto pick
yea I’m not sure which direction we’re heading as long as our owners mentality is to save cost ( strictly business) rather than being passionate about winning the trophy like mark cuban for example!
“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." -- Seneca We need more of this "luck" they speak of.
Exactly, you need to tank to get a generational talent on this team. But also....if you can use these picks to get MPJ...you legit have an option for him to be a number one on a championship team. It wont happen....but sigh.
No point in tanking if you don't have your own picks. There is something to also be said in building a winning mentality organizationally... the Kings have been 'rebuilding' for over a decade.
The Kings only just now got a competent front office. If they had Monte Mcnair earlier they would have Luka freaking Donic.
yeah, but u could also strike gold and get that franchise player to carry u for the next 8-10 years...it’s a gamble us not being ready for contention is why I’m fine with a tank job or at least being bad enough to acquire a good lotto pick, especially if CW is currently our best chance at a franchise cornerstone
another harden is not walking thru that door. in the words of mayor green, james is a once-in-a-lifetime player. meanwhile multiple western conf teams are now stacked with young elite talent. overwhelming odds are our title odds will be crap the rest of this decade
we have full control of our pick in 2022 and 2023, and then in 2024 it’s top 4 protection, top 20 protection in 2025, and top 4 protection in 2026 What is stopping us from tanking next season?
Well, that's not what that quote means at all, nor does it describe us acquiring Harden, which was the context of it being posted. Other than that, you nailed it.
Not a thing next season. The risk is still being a bottom dweller in 2024. Then we are really ****ing up.
