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They probably won't make the playoffs, so it's a good idea..it might be the only way to keep Durant in OKC..
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban openly wondered Sunday whether it would be in the Oklahoma City Thunder's long-term best interests if superstars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook sat out the rest of the season.
Cuban said he would not consider it a breach of NBA integrity if the Thunder essentially bagged this season to improve their odds of winning a le in the near future.
"The question I don't think anybody has asked is, why don't they pull a David Robinson and try to get Tim Duncan?" said Cuban, speaking before the Mavericks hosted the Miami Heat.
Mark Cuban said he would not consider it a breach of NBA integrity if the Thunder bagged this season to improve their future odds of winning a le.
Cuban was referring to the 1996-97 San Antonio Spurs, a 20-win team that played a critical role in laying the foundation for the franchise's five NBA championships.
Robinson played only six games that season, missing the start of the season with a back injury and sitting out the remainder after breaking his foot in late December.
As a result, the Spurs' seven-year playoff streak was snapped, giving them a lottery ticket that turned into the No. 1 overall pick in Duncan. The Spurs won their first le two seasons later.
"We already specialize in a race to the bottom," Cuban said. "More participants won't change anything. They're all high-profile participants."
The Thunder, who have advanced to at least the Western Conference finals the last four seasons, have stumbled to a 1-5 start after Durant underwent preseason foot surgery and Westbrook suffered a broken bone in his right hand during the second game that also required surgery.
Durant and Westbrook are both expected to be sidelined at least another month. As compe ive as the West is, the Thunder might not be able to overcome a poor start to make the playoffs.
Hence Cuban's curiosity about whether the Thunder's wisest move would be for Durant and Westbrook to sit out the rest of the season. In that case, Oklahoma City would likely land one of the premier players in the upcoming draft class, adding another potential franchise cornerstone.
"I'm not suggesting anything," Cuban said. "I'm just curious why the question hasn't been asked because I'm curious what the answer is."
The Mavs faced a similar situation in 2012-13, when Dirk Nowitzki underwent preseason knee surgery and Dallas had its 12-year postseason streak snapped. Dallas was 12-15 when Nowitzki made his season debut, fell 10 games under .500 within the next two weeks and had to fight to finish 41-41.
"I don't know, it would be a tough call," Cuban said when asked whether he'd want Durant and Westbrook to miss the rest of the season if he owned the Thunder. "When Dirk got hurt, we didn't. But it's a little different.
"Because I had a lot of one-year guys and we had to see who we wanted to keep. And I never thought he'd be out that long. Honestly. I thought he'd be back at the start of the season, and then one week, two weeks, it kept dragging on. We never would have gotten to No. 1 and he never would have sat out the whole year. So I'm glad we did it the way we did because I like the fact I've never had a losing season."
http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/...ll-race-bottom
They probably won't make the playoffs, so it's a good idea..it might be the only way to keep Durant in OKC..
"The Thunder, who have advanced to at least the Western Conference finals the last four seasons,"
espn -.-
So mean, so butthurted.
There is no Tim Duncan in this draft. I like okafor but he ain't that
lol Cuban, lol scared, lol espn, lol get your facts straight, lol hack journalism, lol no pride in reporting anymore, lol editor
the rook might just randle himself the first game.
Killa already trying tothis now that the Lakers are looking primed to hand over their pick.
He has a point. We've had very few no. 1 picks who've panned out as expected tbh. Very few have surpassed expectations (Magic, Shaq, Duncan & Lebron) in the last 30 years.Killa already trying to
Makes sense Cubes is teaching how to destroy a contender, tbh...
Not really. After the Mavs rang, Cubes doesn't give a f!ck anymore tbh. I don't know if he became cheap, but he stopped spending after paying boat load of luxury tax in the 2000's.
Cuban knows this Mavericks team has potentially enough to make the NBA finals, so of course he'd like OKC to tank for a what if,= one less obstacle.
I'm just saying, in hindsight (and I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before), letting Chandler go doesn't look like it was such a great idea, tbh...
It's also ironic that the Spurs had their worst season in 2009-10 when they paid luxury tax.
Damn Sterling is cheap. Dude hasn't paid a cent of luxury tax in his life.BTW OKC needs a new owner if they want to contend. They will not go over the tax threshold with Bennett and i think KD & RW will seriously look at that chart in 2016.
But the question is, will there be a Tim Duncan in next year's draft? Probably not. That's how lucky the Spurs were - their superstar's injury perfectly coincided with the timing of another hall of famer entering the draft, and not just any hall of famer, but the kind you can easily predict will become a hall of famer. That's very rare.
they already have a boatload of undeveloped talent, some good coaching would probably be better than tanking, although it can't hurt.
draft a Tim Duncan only to trade him away midseason for a one-year rental of Kevin Martin or something? Just imagine how stacked OKC would've been if they hadn't trade beard away
This mother er.... DROB and the Spurs did not tank.... David was injured for s sakes!!!
Why not talk about Cleveland as they tanked 3 ing times
Davis looks like a first ball Hall of Famer, and he should be a strong contender for MVP this season.
OKC+SUNS should merge, 2 tightarse owners
Why don't they pull a David Robinson and start the year with an injury and then suffer a separate season ending injury?
Nothing wrong with tanking a season like that. Not sure why Spurfan gets so upset whenever people call em out for tanking in 97. I would've done the same thing.
/thread
They should Shark Tank.
-Lefty
Neither do i, but san antonio did not have the worst record in the league that year.
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