People need to take a good hard to look at the San Antonio Spurs for the last 5 years and ask themselves if the 21 -22 Spurs is where you want the Rockets to be 3 years from now.
Even if I agreed with you, which I don't. Trading for both of them is downright impossible. I mean we would have to send John Wall out to match the salaries and that means we would have to give up every pick in the Harden trade just to get someone to take that contract.... Kyrie has a better chance of retiring than winning a ring here. If Simmons and Kyrie were our two best players, we would have what? The 12th best duo in the league? All these are better or could be better. And there is still more. Harden KD Lebron AD Paul Booker Giannis Middleton Butler Lowry Kawhi PG Curry Draymond or Klay Brown Tatum Dame CJ Jokic Murray KAT Russell Luka KP Embiid Harris
If we’re playing our young guns ( green/KPJ//Shengun/Christopher/etc) and able to get a play in spot, I’m all for it. It means we are close to compete. But if we’re playing vets heavy minutes in order to barely make the playin, I don’t think it’s worth it.
I never like seeing my team lose, let alone losing big like trash. The only consolation for that kind of losing is the prospect that we would get a high pick in the next draft. Intentional tanking is not my cup of tea. Developing young players is the top priority, over winning. But using a crappy lineup (like playing Theis and House who have no upside) just so we can lose is unconscionable. Why don't we see it in a more positive light? Try your best to instill winning habits in the young guys and find out what works and what doesn't. If we win, then it means the rebuilding is ahead of schedule. If we lose, we get a good pick. Either way is good. For example, we found that the Theis-Wood lineup didn't work. So scrap that. Experiment with something else. How about a Sengun-Wood lineup. If it doesn't work, scrap that and try something else. If it does work, stick to it and win. Don't scrap it just because you want to lose. Winning those games isn't "meaningless" like some of you think.
Tanking is overrated. Always better to win as much as possible and build a winning culture. It would be amazing for morale if we could go from a 15 game losing streak to making the play-in tournament as a 10th seed. That **** would be a Disney movie. A top 5 pick in the draft is a huge gamble that may not even pay off. Most NBA superstars are taken in the mid-1st round anyway. Jalen was the number 2 pick and Sengun was taken with the 16th pick and so far Sengun has had the most impact.
If the rebuild is ahead of schedule do you think this team is capable of winning a championship with this core over years? Or does this team need more talent to win it all down the road or does it need a superstar or multiple all stars to win a chip? The treadmill can also be ahead of schedule as well, see the Sacremento Kings the past decade.
Top 5 pick all day and twice on Sunday for this season. Not really sure about the 2022 season..... Scoot Henderson and Wembanyama are looking like even better franchise players than this year's draft. I was leaning more towards start competing next season before the win streak because we were looking historically bad and that's a tough thing to go through for two straight seasons. However, through "this one simple trick" we are looking competent against the dregs and some feisty teams. Regardless, the "Tank" is up in the 2023 season when we give our top 4 protected to OKC.
They've really done a 180 since the Kawhi trade. Not only did the not want to get a better package from Lakers out of spite, but they pretty much choose mediocrity.
Another interesting thing to look at: Top 3 Draft Pick Who Won a Championship With the Team that Drafted Him. 1979-2000 (21 years) Magic Johnson Kevin McHale Isiah Thomas James Worthy Dream MJ David Robinson Sean Elliott Tim Duncan Jason Kidd** (second time with team) 2000-2021 (21 Years) Kyrie Irving Lebron James** (second time with team) ... and of course, the one, the only Darko!!! So yeah. Top 3 gives you a great chance of an All-Star, but pretty much since the 80s that does not at all mean that he'll stick around and take you to a 'ship, anymore In fact this century only happened with LBJ coming back and taking Kyrie's ass to a title... And Darko winning in his rookie year without getting any playing time... Hardly a winning formula!
And you need assets like high draft picks to trade for all stars/super stars. It's not just about drafting the right player and keeping him, but overall it's about expanding your high quality assets for a trade or development. Mediocrity is the worst winning formula, unless your goal is just to be relevant and sell tickets.
Question, if you have a top 3 all star and they want to leave can you trade them for another star, assets etc? If you aquire that type of talent does it give you much more options to attract other stars in free agency if they decide to leave? Stars are the currency that runs the league, if you have it you can have options to get closer to championship contention. If you are mediocre with pretty good but not great players it's much harder to maneuver and gain title contention talent.
The draft is not the only way to win a championship. In fact, there was a post earlier in another thread that pointed out that in the past two decades or so, very few superstars won championships with the team that drafted them. In this day and age of player movement, there is no guarantee that even if you are lucky enough to pick a generational player, you will win a chip with him. What's more important is front office competency and a winning culture. These things attract star players. I've said it elsewhere. If two of the four rookies turn out to be star caliber players, we will have a bright future. Who cares if they win some "meaningless" games along the way.
See my post after that which addresses that. If you draft a star you now have value to trade them for a star, assets etc. It also makes it more attractive to aquire other stars in free agency if they decide to leave. The bigger question is do you think this current team is capable of winning a championship over years with the talent they have? Why would a superstar or MVP caliber player come here vs a team with other stars? Typically you need at least one star to attract others. A championship will never be guaranteed, that is a strawman argument. What kind of team typically gives you the best chances for championship contention? Nothing is guaranteed of course but the top of the draft is one of the best places to find that first superstar or build a star core.
While this is true, I would still always be happy to take my chances with a kd, harden, embiid, davis type to build around. Yes, a lot of teams screw up by immediately chasing the playoffs (see cavs with james and pels with davis), or a situation like philly where the league drops the hammer on them with colangelo.
I don't care about top picks, we have 4 players developing already, unless you think we blew it on Green. Let's develop whom we have and pick 6-9th.....that is still a good player, we don't need a TOP pick......we have enough young players..... DD
