Would it be worth it to be a bottom 4 team

Yes I would love to have been in the bottom 4 this year had they traded away Scola, Martin, and other veterans for young talent or draft picks. If thats what you mean? Thats how to do it.

 

We should have done it a long time ago.

There is risk. For every OKC, you have three to four Charlottes. Once you are bad, you can be stuck in there for a long time. However, I find it better to watch young players learn than a mediocre team with no upside.

 

Hell no. From the breakup of the George Karl era Sonics, that franchise endured 11 years of mediocrity or bad play that ended with Seattle losing the team. It wasn't just a 3 year tank.

 

Idk man, the only texas team the thunder didn't beat in the playoffs were the houston rockets
Must mean we are better

 

Tanking implies losing games on purpose. Rebuilding implies giving young players minutes to develop. I fully support rebuilding. I think for a team like Houston that is unlikely to attract stars in free agency, it is better to bring in talent and develop from within. Players DO get better. Some get surprisingly better. All we can do is acquire the best talent available and give it time to mature.

 

Sometimes it's good to be lucky too.

 

Yes and no. They did make the playoffs 3 years, including one trip to the second round. Yes, that is mediocrity. BUt look at them now.

George Karl left after the 97-98 season. Since that time, the Sonics/Thunder have 6 playoff appearances including the last three, but the last three are of so significant, and now in the Finals.

In the same time frame for the Rockets, they've also had 6 playoff appearances. But they've only made it to the second round once, compared to 3 times for the Sonics/Thunder, who've also now made it past the second round twice.

Which is the point of the thread. The two franchises were in eerily similar positions.

I was going to make some kind of witty comment about how novel an idea this thread is.... but i guess it shows the point... there were still some people who continued to hold out against a rebuild all-season. Every year that number dwindles. Which isn't to say DM can't pull a rabbit out of a hat, but a betting man would have the Rockets finishing anywhere from 7th seed to just out of the playoffs again next year. snoozefest

the funny part is that this isn't really about luck. it's about organizations. charlotte is a joke of an organization. from ownership (yes MJ), down. It's possible they've turned that around with their new GM. Landing Davis would certainly have validated it, but they have a ton of cap space, some young talent, and pick #2. The Clippers have always been a joke of an organization. The Thunder were a well run organization.

the rockets strike me as an organization HIGHLY capable of a proper rebuild. Ownership committed to winning - just need that push to accept the tank. solid GM. strong scouting. nbadl and euro affiliations. good fanbase and city, etc. My money would be on a great rebuild.... because honestly, imagine the possibilities if we had a top 4 pick this year.

 

It's just risky to try to do that. You have to draft perfectly for 3 years in a row or you end up like the Kings or Bobcats.

I kinda wish we would do it as well, but I also appreciate the fact that our front office try's their best to put a winning team out there every year.

 

This

I would play nothing but young players, if we suck( oh well) If we dont we have something to build on

 

you can say the same when we got yao ming.

 

Rockets have nothing to lose because they are at all time bad now.

no, Rockets are not a winning team.

 

It's a disgrace that our management is committed to presented a product that at least attempts to win? Losing to win is like cheating. It's pathetic to tank. We are not a pathetic franchise. And tanking or being really bad doesn't guarantee a damn thing. We lost Hakeem and drafted Yao and what did that do for us? Not a damn thing. Even with great players you don't always win. And not every draft is as deep as this one.

Basically, I am advocate for rebuilding through winning and developing. Every player in the NBA has the athleticism and skill set to be successful, you have to have patience and dedication in order to realize that potential. I am not saying Bud, Parsons, or others will turn into stars, but they could very well materialize into very good players who are underpaid, leaving us with the cap space and the roster to attract free agents.

We didn't get any attractive FA when Yao was here because his injury plague frightened them off. Now we are just a solid team, with good chemistry, good players, but no all-star leader. Tanking gets you a draft pick and another project.

And basically you just suggested tanking 3 years in a row to be where the Thunder are. There are many ways to build a team to a contending level.

 

Fans look at what Presti accomplished at OKC and believe that their GM can do it too. I don't believe that even Presti believes he could pull that rebuild off again. Rebuilding that quickly through the draft may never be replicated again in the NBA.

 

I like how anti-tankers throw out the Clippers as an example but conveniently never mention that the Clippers are THE SINGLE WORST FRANCHISE IN THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS! They have the worst owner in the history of professional sports. They've never had a good general manager because Sterling won't shell out the bucks for one. They finally have a solid team right now, but they still suck in large part because Donald Sterling wanted to hire a coach that is so bad his previous team is paying part of his salary. The Clippers suck because their whole organization sucks. And as such, they generally draft poorly, and then, even when they do stumble into a solid player, that player runs for the hills as soon as they become a free agent. And let's not even get into Sterling's well publicized instances of racism and the weird **** he's done like walking groups of people into the showers with his players. No player in his right mind wants to play for that cheap, racist, slum-lord.

We are not the Clippers. We have two championship banners hanging from our rafters. We have a rich history that includes some of the greatest centers to have ever played the game. We have a GM that is consistently ranked one of the best in the NBA. We have an owner, who despite his current unpopularity, has consistently shelled out the money for us to be in the top ten in pay roll. I'm not sure about our coaching situation, but even if this current coach fails - we've had a history of great coaches in Tomjanovich, JVG and Adelman. WE ARE NOT THE CLIPPERS! WE CANNOT BE THE CLIPPERS! HELL, NOBODY CAN BE THE CLIPPERS! You have to actually want to suck that bad to suck that bad.

 

Yes but our young guys aren't getting playing time. Thats the whole problem. We have an owner who thinks that just making the playoffs will keep butts in the seats. Well this year was a rude awakening for them. They need to ***** or get off the f'ing pot. Houston fans will not settle for mediocrity while we go all in for a monster trade to put us back on top. Les needs to get w/ the f'ing program and build through the draft or else we will be the designated #14 pick each and every year until he does.

 

If you would read all the posts you would see that I am in favor of re-building but you choose to pick one post only.
And there are risks involved with tanking, the Kings are in the similar boat right now and have been for several years.
And if you look at the other direction with a team who did not choose to tank but played as well as they could and had low lottery picks for 3 years you can see the Indiana Pacers. No top 5 lottery picks but they played well took low lottery picks and re-built their team.
I also am a fan of Morey and the point of my post was to point out there are risks involved with going both routes, re-building and tanking or trying to trade your way into contention.
We are seeing the frustration of going the route we chose come out on Clutchfans, as many are starting to say we should have rebuilt and are currently stuck in mediocrity. My point was to show just by chosing a total rebuild it does not mean you get better automatically and become what Oklahoma City did.

 

So, just a question. If we traded Lowry, Scola, and Martin, did not resign Camby and bought out Dally, would be bad enough to get a top 5 pick next year? We would almost have to sign Lee and Dragic to meet the league minimum for salary. Or I guess we could just take back broken down players with huge contracts to get future draft picks.

 

Cleveland got lebron they got to the finals.
Miami got wade they won the final.
Magic got dwight they got to the finals.
Spurs got duncan they won the finals.

In the case of lebron, howard, and wade their teams were pretty terrible when they were drafted.

 

Sure as hell beats being a 14th team.

 

You only have 82 posts. Forgive me if I haven't taken note of you and where you stand. But I see this example (and Charlotte) thrown around a whole lot and it drives me nuts. My tirade wasn't directed at you specifically as much as it is people using that argument, which, in my mind, is completely invalid and ridiculous. The Kings are a better example, but that franchise still isn't as historically well-run as the Rockets.