Notice that we didn't have to tank and we still got the 5th worst record and Yao. This 20-something win season was mostly due to the memorable 14-game losing streak prior to this thread, while Francis was injured. I still remember the dude who predicted the losing streak. sigh. Rice got injured before this thread as well...ended his season. Walt was injured. Mobley and Kenny still got major minutes. Francis did, too, when not injured. They definitely did not tank...just injured. And landed the #1 pick in the draft. I guess we could say letting Mobley lead the team is scoring at 21.7 is a form of tanking ... :grin: (right Clutch)
Either way HP, they lost a lot of games and got the 6th pick which allowed them to get lucky in the lotto and get Yao Ming. The end result was the same, a high pick for a high quality player. Getting a great player in the draft is a much more reasonable approach then trying to shake one loose from free agency when you have 29 other teams also going after them. The draft allows you to get the player you want without any competition. DD