Is it really worth it to miss it, tbh? Reason is... Do we trust the FO to even make the right decision when it comes to picks? They seem out of touch with the current NBA and what kind of players it takes to win...
If we miss the playoffs, it not only may cause Kawhi to see the roster as hopeless (ten years ago, our third best player could carry us to the playoffs if we lost Duncan and Parker for an entire season... Now our second best player has us on the brink of missing it), but also may cause potential free agents to be turned completely off... Whereas if we make it, we have a better chance of retaining Kawhi, AND getting another star based on reputation and the storyline of Pop getting us to the playoffs even without Kawhi and Patty Mills starting for most of the season
You raise good points about a draft pick being no guarantee. It isn't a guarantee regardless of which FO is making the decision. I'm torn. I hate to see them lose. I would also hate to see them limp in to the 7th or 8th seed, get embarrassed, and miss out on getting lucky in the draft.
One thing I would say about your post is: "our second best player has us on the brink of missing the playoffs because of our coach" might be more accurate.
I have wanted them to make it... that plus teams that start falling out of the playoffs don’t recover easily. It’s not a good trend, plus I wanted the experience for Dijon, Davis, Kyle and others, plus frankly a selfish fan reason: I don’t care about the playoffs once my team is done. It will be weird to not have the team to root for. It sucks.
But the way this season has gone, it’s expected. Not only are they not playing well, Pop isn’t playing the right players. He’s left White benched all season, he starts Gasol and plays him heavy minutes when he should play adavis more specially if he’s going to start Dijon. Mills is not a starting level player in a good team and shouldn’t play 30+ per game etc.
Besides the team’s own deficiencies, Pop has also not done all he can to win.
I see it as him developing Dejounte, and looking forward to a lottery pick.
Hopefully they nail it. One can still hope.
Agree with ur last point... The media has been gassing Pop up saying this has been his best coaching job... But this has by far been his worst... Combine that with the paper tiger which is Aldridge, and u see why
PATFO needs a wake up call kick in the ass. Maybe missing the playoffs will accomplish that.
It won’t.
Should they attempt to deal Gasol and/or Mills and go away from a post up heavy offense I will see it. His choice of players to add says a lot about the style of basketball he wants the team to play.
would rather miss POs and get a pick over no kawhi and getting swept/destroyed by HOU or GSW.
I have mixed feelings. On one hand a lottery pick could be the only useful thing to get out of this lost season. On the other, if the Spurs miss the playoffs it means either Kawhi didn't make it back or is still playing like like he was in those nine games back earlier. If Kawhi sucks the rest of the season it seems a lot more likely he walks next summer since the Spurs probably wouldn't offer a supermax deal if he's still not wiping his own ass yet.
Agreed!
They’re stuck with Gasol and Fatty. Maybe they won’t make any more ridiculous loyalty deals for a while going forward though. Like Green, Parker, Manu. Spurs should realize they’re in a rebuilding mode and act accordingly. I’m not confident Popovich doesn’t think he can duct tape a compe ive team together with scraps
It’s not just that. I haven’t really said much about it bc I really have no beef to pick up what th the Rudy Gay faithful but Spurs chose to add yet another iso heavy post up on player this past summer. There’s a lot they could have done. Didn’t need to hand the Gasol and Mills deals but Rudy doesn’t add enough dynamism. Maybe it’s the injury or whatever but the plays getting called up for him don’t really generate ball movement either. I don’t want to come down as too harsh on Rudy. Maybe he will be better next season, but it’s really the choices they have made, the players they have signed in FA that tell me how they want to play. And Pop is still favoring iso post players. Heck he stil calls up post ups for Gasol.
We shall see what happens maybe Pop has embraced the tank bc they have a chance at someone they really really like.
Not wanting to see brooms and Spurs fishing pictures. So I am all on board with the “ Tank Crew”.
I'm on the fence. Obviously, the goal in the beginning of the season was to make the playoffs, and I still wouldn't mind seeing this team get Kawhi back, slide in at the 7th or 8th seed and try to surprise someone in the first round. That would keep the playoff streak alive, and the Spurs would still probably end up with a pick in the high teens.
Is it worth the Spurs intentionally tanking (which goes against the culture, could alienate fans, and sends a bad message to Kawhi) to get the 14th pick instead of the 18th pick? Obviously, we will never know until years after the draft is long over...but it's a lot of risk without any guaranteed reward.
I am not confident PATFO will resist more loyalty deals in order to duct tape this mess together.
Please save us all from the humiliation of a playoff beatdown. I can't take it. I just can't take it!
The way this Spurs season has gone it doesn't matter. If you make the playoffs it will likely be as of now the 7th or 8th seed. So Spurs could win a game or two against Rockets or Warriors but probably bow out against either team. They should never try to tank, you go for that 7th, 8th seed if it's there. If they don't make the playoffs you take your draft pick, retool, recharge the batterys and comeback with a vengeance next season. This is a team that went from WCF to possibly missing playoffs in a span of a year. It sucks for Manu though if it's his last season as a Spur to possibly miss the playoffs for the first time in his NBA career along with TP. Regardless Spurs FO is getting a reality check this season, they have to make some moves and retool.
If Spurs lose tonight, the tank is definitely on.
If the Spurs miss the playoffs their draft position goes from about 15 to about 14.
Damn, let's tank!
Spurs currently sitting on 13th pick...
And if they miss the playoffs even as the “best of the rest,” they still get ping pong balls and a shot to move up a slot or two realistically.
http://www.nbadraft.net/2018mock_draft
I'm not advocating a tank...just looking at the numbers. In the loss column, the Spurs are within 8 games of the 10th pick, where Charlotte currently sits at 29-38. Even if they lost all of their remaining games, there is no catching the bottom 9.
Charlotte has gone 6-5 in their last 11, so they don't seem to be actively tanking. Pistons are still within a stone's throw of the 8th seed and will probably at least try to win some games. Lakers actually seem to be playing better now (for whatever reason).
If the Spurs go 10-5 over their last 15 games (seems unlikely), they would like end up probably around the 8th seed, and pick around 15-17 (7th and 8th seed in East already have worse records).
If the Spurs go 5-10 (which doesn't seem like a stretch considering no Kawhi and the SOS), they would definitely be out of playoffs and probably pick around 11-13.
If the Spurs went 1-14, they'd be in the conversation for the 10th spot. It wouldn't be a truly "effective" tank in the fact that it's too late to even get top 10 talent...but the difference between picking 10th or 16th is a pretty wide gap.
I'm having a change of heart... Kawhi seems to be fully committed... And if he doesn't come back this year, we have no chance... And we may even have no chance WITH him coming back so late... There are some good bugs and swing men in the lottery this year... Two things we sorely need... I'm leaning towards the tank, tbh...
There will be more deals.
Green, Parker, will probably be your biggest signings this offseason.
We should have a lottery pick but somehow even Pop screwed that up
I was starting to accept the idea of the team going down in flames and acquiring their highest pick since Duncan. My inner warrior, however, would rather see them win some games. They are playing for nothing but pride. As talent challenged and ill-conceived as the team is, I’d rather see them go down swinging. If they can win, I think they will. Pop, Tony, and Manu have a strong will to win and a long history of doing it. Also, Kawhi needs to know the team has moved on and is committed to playing their best. Sports are all about in-game compe ion. Seeing Manu get into AD’s head last night shows me that there is some pride on the line for the Spurs. I’d rather see that than a higher draft pick.
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