Rebuilding without Tanking makes assets look better

You have a very good point. I've never seen any benefit to tanking. There are many teams who tank, and very few get lucky enough to have it work out. Most just stay bad for years and years. Not about that as a fan. I want a competative team, eventually things will go our way.

 

Another thing that adds to your point is how much worse the players we have let go or traded have played since they left. There are exceptions to this of course, but overall what it shows is that the value we (as fans) and other the NBA placed on these players was inflated due to the moderate success the team had while we had those players.

 

And even Cleveland managed to never win a title in their years with LeBron. Goes to show even if you get hands down the best player in the NBA via tanking, it still doesn't guarantee you a title.

Basketball is a team sport, need to have a strong supporting cast, not just a superstar.

Rockets are beginning to show the makings of both. Just 1-2 pieces and a year or two of developing away from contending.

 

The Cavs screwed up building a team around James. James made them competitive, but they weren't exactly careful with how they rounded out the roster. Tanking got them James. Bad free agency and drafting did the rest of the damage.

I respect how Morey wants to be very careful about the next big deal/signing. He knows that if you screwup that cap space, you end up with an incomplete squad with little maneuverability.

 

That's for sure, since you need players not perform to tank, so no one would look good in that situation.

But if you constantly be average, it's hard to get anything good in return. Harden is a special case, the Rockets just got lucky.

 

Tanking is not really surefire, it only worked for OKC since they managed to get good picks 3 years in a row. Much prefer Daryl's rebuild.

 

Rockets too proud to tank.

 

We got lucky. Tanking would require the same thing.

Had the Wizards not been complete morons and traded Beal for Harden, they'd be looking really good DUE TO TANKING.

There are only so many superstars in the NBA, I'm glad the Rockets found a way to get one.

The Rockets NOW look like a team that can lure another big name, who knows which one, but we now have the ability to do it.

 

We're lucky we got Harden rather than Gasol, Bynum, or Dwight. Superstars don't always stay superstars.

 

Role players on winnings teams have better value in trades than role players on losing teams.

But even role players on winning teams aren't valued as highly as say a previous top 7 pick, as long as it wasn't a really bad pick.

I'm just glad we didn't have to tank to get here. But we were lucky to get Harden, Asik and Lin together in trade/free agent signings in the same year. Otherwise, the Rockets would be in the lottery and people calling for a complete tank and losing interest in the team.

 

Great observation OP. the second part of the equation is making sure we sell high. We didn't do that with Brooks, Pat or Scola (well, we tried with Scola). Can't fall in love with our players.

 

You're not giving enough credit to say "the Rockets just got lucky". Morey planned and built for years to make his own luck. The whole idea behind his tanking-less rebuild was to build up assets and keep pushing for an opportunity, then seize it when it arrived.

You only see the one time it succeeded, so you chalk it up to luck... when in fact, he was going to succeed eventually, it was just a matter of time, because he kept trying again and again and building up a larger and larger pile of chips to offer.

 

For some reason , I read this as "Tanning makes your ass look better"

 

not if you stay out in the sun too long without sunscreen. The blisters are finally gone, but i'm getting hot flashes and i can barely sit down. Taking a dump is also a private hell.

 

By nature, tanking is more risky..........

 

Totally disagree. OKC called every team with high lottery picks the past years for a Harden trade. They talked to Washington about Beal, Bobcats about MKG+stuff, supposedly Thompson+stuff from Golden State, Kanter+stuff from Utah, etc. And that's just what I've read. In other words, they wanted a top-5 draft talent to be part of the package received for Harden. But everyone else found the asking price too much.

Harden became a Rocket in large part because half the league are run by people who can't judge basketball talent to save their lives. The people who drafted Thabeet #2 or Wesley Johnson #4 or Johnny Flynn #6. He became a Rocket because many supposed "experts" around the league weren't even sure if Harden was worth a max contract.

I bet you if Morey was given the option to fast forward seasons the way you can in a video game, he would've just tanked instead. But the real world doesn't work that way, and 20 win seasons are unacceptable from an ownership and sponsorship standpoint. So he didn't tank.

 

give this man whatever he wants. Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

too early to tell. Will Harden + mediocre players win anything in Houston?

Tanking can get Rockets more assets, for free.