ESPN: Sixers want NBA to delay implementing lottery reform because they are tanking

It screws a bunch of teams to do a quick change in lottery rules. Lots of teams have traded away or received picks with protections that are built around the current lottery system. It would screw up a bunch of people. But, if the other owners are willing to accept the consequences anyway, Philly's probably screwed.

It won't be too disastrous for Philly's plan to be bad anyway though. Rule changes probably won't knock them back more than a handful of slots. If they pick #8 instead of #4, that isn't so terrible as all that.

 

Morey rebuilt the Rockets without tanking and you still kill him every chance you get. We could very easily be the 76ers without him trading for Harden. Losing in the first round would not be an option. Keep that in mind the next time you go after both of them. Exhibit A. Perspective fellas. Perspective.

 

I hope it goes through this year. It would greatly help the Rockets. The new orleans pelicans are like to have a pick that normally would be late in the lottery and the Rockets own the rights to that pick. But if the rule change happens for next season then the Rockets have a better chance to go get a higher pick.

 

this is exactly why it's unfair to make the change next year. You need ample warning so teams are aware how valuable their draft picks will be. In this case pels got screwed.

 

Philly are rebuilding their team, that is all they are doing

tanking is an amazing myth that the media have built up, congrats that everyone has believed it

just for the record, there is nothing wrong with the current lottery system

 

every team can't rebuild the same way

 

Exactly..and I'm glad we did it this way and not that way.

 

I'm talking about this version of the Rockets. The Harden era is what we are talking about. The course of this franchise changed when we traded for him. Dwight went from refusing to come to Houston in a trade multiple times to signing here on his own volition. That change was due to Harden and Harden alone. So in this era you have not praised and defended Morey.

 

I don't now see that there's anything qualitatively different between what Hinkie and Morey are doing right now. Neither team is trying to win a champioship right now, but instead bidnig their time to build up assets to get a core of guys the GM believes can win. When Morey said we needed a 3rd star to win and then let Parsons walk because he was not the 3rd star we needed, choosing instead cap flexibility to get some star later, he essentially wrote off the season (barring a trade-deadline coup). That Morey is using cap flexibility to get there while Hinkie is using the draft is only a difference in methods, not endeavors. And, that Morey has a 50+ win team while Hinkie has a 15+ win team is only a difference in degree and timeframe. The real qualitative distinction is between teams that are trying to win now and those that are building assets to win later (and maybe a third set of teams not particularly interested in ever winning). Spurs, Thunder, Clippers, Cavs, Bulls, and Pacers are trying to win now. Sixers, Rockets, and everyone else are waiting to win later.

 

funny thing is that Philly never had the number 1 pick.

 

I would think the difference is that the plan (most likely) for the Sixers involves losing games as an essential ingredient to their method of roster construction. I don't think the rockets are trying to make moves (or in this case, do nothing) to lose games, though that may be a by-product.

I also do not agree that the Rockets have given up on this season. On the contrary, matching the Parsons deal would essentially be the Rockets writing off the next three years barring a miracle trade. By preserving flexibility, they still have a chance to make a big move this season and win this year. Matching would have lead them very close to apron which they can't go over.

 

The lottery was implemented in the first place to reduce tanking by making it less likely that the worst team would get the top pick. So I think you could easily say that intentionally sucking and tanking is not acting in good faith.

 

It looks like the Sixers might end up as the biggest winners yet. They tank harder than anyone has ever tanked, and the lottery reform likely comes in as soon as they are done tanking.

 

I didn't realize they had ever stopped tanking.

 

I probably shouldn't have brought it up in a draft and Sixers thread. But, I agree that the Rockets haven't given up on the season. It's just Morey. No doubt, Howard and Harden and McHale will go all in to win.

On the draft, I don't think whether teams 'try' to win or lose games should be important to fans in looking at this. 'Try' has become a very relative concept anyway. By swapping Parsons, Asik, and Lin for Ariza, one could say the Rockets are trying to lose more games this season than last. Losing more is a side-effect of the strategy instead of a goal, but both are team-building endeavors that sacrifice immediate championship aspirations.

I don't have a problem with either approach. You can't really have 30 teams aimed single-mindedly on a championship every year. Most teams are going to be in a state of rebuilding each year regardless. Whether your team was a tanking bottom-feeder or the winningest lotto team ever, or a second round casualty, the difference is really just optics.

 

The Asik and Lin moves were agreed to prior to knowing Bosh wasn't coming. No way they can be counted as trying to lose more games. On the Parsons move, I still don't see how it can be said the Rockets are trying to lose more games. Losing a couple of games this season may be the end result, but not matching Parsons was all about not locking the Rockets into a losing roster. Losing games is actually counter productive to their goal of luring free agents. Winning or losing doesn't matter regarding flexibility for trades. Philly can't make their draft picks better without losing or depending on luck.

Morey has not given up on this season. He still has preserved the MLE and is working on making a big trade at the deadline. He may not improve the roster, but he will try. From what I can tell, Morey would view matching Parsons as giving up on this season and the next two.