Should the Spurs tank? 12th seed now. Out of Play-in and not at bottom is the worst place to be...

[Spurminator]

The draft looks to be the way the Spurs want to build the core of their team. People still hoping for a major impact trade for a star player when the Spurs have made it clear to be patient and they want to build through the draft.

I'm not involved in the Spurs organization, thus my opinions are not bound by their philosophy. Still, even if this team is refusing to trade or sign known talent, I don't trust the FO enough to bet that getting a 7th pick instead of 14th will make this team substantially better versus giving the core experience in important games down the stretch.

[T Park]

This fanbase is addicted to losing and it ing sucks

[rascal]

What is your draft/trade preference for this offseason if both of the spurs’ picks end up in the 10-18 range?

What I really want is for the Spurs to lose enough to get enough ping pong balls and strike luck again to get into the top four.

Drafting 10 or lower would be a disappointing result as the players in that range are not as good not as much upside as the players inside the top 10.

I like Tre Johnson's speed and quick release and think he can end up being a great number 2 offensive scorer for the spurs if the spurs land outside the top 4 but inside the top 10.

[100%duncan]

For fans of a team that has such a low NBA Draft batting average, some of you sure do place a lot of priority on picks. I don't understand it.

Whatever players we're rolling with long term will gain far more from experience playing important games with Playoff implications than they will with a random #8 pick we're not even sure is going to pan out.

End of thread

[ismael-robert]

4-7 games are more important than a player who can play for 15+ years, got it.

[ismael-robert]

Making late season changes to improve a team is for playoff teams n contenders...not only does it hurt draft position but does it improve us enough to really improve playoff seeding this late in year? And then ok we improved playoff seeding, did we do enough to become contenders? So the same arguments of fruitlessness can be made from both sides. We've already wasted over half a season let's get decent pick n see what they do in off season or any decent waiver pickups

[ambchang]

I don’t mind losing this year to get good odds but this is it. I am more and more convinced the spurs problems are developmental issues with young players. Not the players. Even if the spurs drafted exactly the same as OKC did with the same players, we’d be a treadmilling 25 win team because the players can’t play together or rung any sets with any consistency.

[Spurminator]

4-7 games are more important than a player who can play for 15+ years, got it.

lol what percentage of NBA draft picks play 15+ years?

Pretty fool proof argument if you always assume the best case scenario instead of the odds.

[spursparker9]

Tanking is a legit option guys. This season is gone tbh

[mystargtr34]

I was in the tank after the Bulls loss a few weeks ago and said so in the game thread. Nothing has changed. Get that 8th draft slot and hope to jump in the top 4 and get one of Flagg, Harper, Ace, Veejay, Fears, Jaku.

[scott]

I was in the tank after the Bulls loss a few weeks ago and said so in the game thread. Nothing has changed. Get that 8th draft slot and hope to jump in the top 4 and get one of Flagg, Harper, Ace, Veejay, Fears, Jaku.

And then what? With the exception of Flagg and maybe Harper, all of these guys are going to be several years away from being viable players who turn this team around. Even if we land one of these guys, we've still got to quickly make moves to improve the rest of the roster. I don't want to wait until Wemby's extension kicks in to make the playoffs.

[spursparker9]

Past few days have been fun with the Luka-AD Trade and us acquiring Fox.

But back to reality guys.

Still at 12th seed and 4 games behind the very tight play-in race.

Even if addition of Fox, do you think he can overcome the dead weights of Vassell and Keldon clanging up shots and will the Spurs into the playoffs?

Still not too late to tank tbh

[Death In June]

I’m in the camp that shuts down Fox until his surgery is done. Get a back up C and try to win games and naturally come in outside of the play in. Hopefully comfortably make the playoffs next season.

[rascal]

Yes, get Fox's finger fixed and go for two top 10 picks this year and hopefully get one top 4 pick and all chips in starting next year.

[Mal]

I would say give it a go. If it looks like, it would need more than plug and play type adjustments, then shut him down.

[CGD]

I think the best outcome is: play-in where Spurs lose one or two very hard fought games, ATL continues to fall, Spurs keep combined odds of around 20% of landing a top 4 pick.

[onechance87]

Lets see how we do today against atl and the next few games

[thOOdee]

don't see how people can't smell the Chris Paul/spurs underdog/narrative from a mile away headed into the playoffs. bookmark this, and think spurs making another move soon. Going to be scary for whoever is in first.

[Knoxxx]

I’m in the camp that shuts down Fox until his surgery is done. Get a back up C and try to win games and naturally come in outside of the play in. Hopefully comfortably make the playoffs next season.

We also need to give fair tryouts to our end of the bench guys like Mamu, Wesley, Branham down the stretch. Which can be conducive to losing more games. Assuming more of those end of bench guys aren't traded this week. Also if you feature those guys down the stretch, every other game or whatever, could boost their future trade value in offseason.

Edit: yes I know Mamu...Branham have had multiyear tryouts by now, but this is a wink wink hey let's accidentally not win too many games strategy also. Noted that Duke and Ingram played a little last game, time to call them up some more and see if they are worth keeping around or churning for other prospects.