I just don't think this is true. Talent and potential are talent and potential, no matter what the team's record. Take Durant, Rose, and Griffin. All of them came from teams that, until recently, were entirely unimpressive, but any team would have given anything they had to acquire them. Now that those teams are good, nobody's banging down the door to get Kyle Korver, Ryan Gomes, or Cole Aldrich. Obviously these are just anecdotes and not evidence, but value is value. If we wanted to sell off Scola, Martin, and Dalembert to tank hard, we would get a good return for each of them.
While there is a smidgen of truth to what you say, the problem is simply that we do not have Durant, Rose, Griffin, or any player of their 'talent' or 'potential' on our roster. Our best guys are 2nd tier players, and if we want to maximize their value, we simply need to win. If we lose, they get seen as 'losers' who on their own are no good, and aren't terribly desirable as trade targets. Nobody wants to trade a lotto pick for a 'loser' (ie, 2nd tier talent) - but a team might be willing to ship out a disgruntled superstar in exchange for a collection of 2nd tier 'winners'. Side issue, but I can't believe people are still talking about tanking after we've won more games already than the bottom 3 teams will win on the season. What's the point now?!?! Might as well cheer for the wins already. Our best option to improve the team right NOW is to win and make the playoffs. A bunch of 2nd tier winners who already made the playoffs might also be a slightly enticing destination for a star who needs a supporting cast to make a championship bid.
imo if we make a couple moves to solidify our roster, we have a chance to fight for homecourt this year. the west is wide open from 4-8.
I guess the tie-breakers gives us the 7th seed, even though we are listed behind Dallas in our own division. Dallas is currently listed as the #9 seed.
