Grades: Spurs vs. Nuggets - Nov. 7, 2022

[Killakobe81]

You know the lakers are just plain bad. They've spent most of their cap space on Lebron, AD, and Westbrook and didn't leave much for the rest of the team. That is really bad cap management. Even if the lakers tank they don't have any #1 picks. That's laughingly bad.

The rockets have talent just no real experience. That will doom them to the bottom of the standings. Teams always need a balance of youth and experience in order to win. The rockets are pretty far away from that.

The front office wants the spurs to tank, but the players for the most part have ignored the memo. At least this group plays hard which is enjoyable to watch even when they lose. Lose enough games and we get a decent draft pick. Manage the cap and maybe we can sign so mid range vets and then maybe we don't have to talk about tanking so much next year.

We have our pick but the ed up part Pelican can pick swap …

[jjspur]

We have our pick but the ed up part Pelican can pick swap …

Do you really think the the Lakers are not going to be worse than the Pels ? The Pels are going to swap picks my friend .... and they will be laughing their asses off as they do it.

[Killakobe81]

Do you really think the the Lakers are not going to be worse than the Pels ? The Pels are going to swap picks my friend .... and they will be laughing their asses off as they do it.

Nah, I get that part just saying we do have our pick technically and will be worse if it ends up #1 or #2

[RC_Drunkford]

You know the lakers are just plain bad. They've spent most of their cap space on Lebron, AD, and Westbrook and didn't leave much for the rest of the team. That is really bad cap management. Even if the lakers tank they don't have any #1 picks. That's laughingly bad.

The rockets have talent just no real experience. That will doom them to the bottom of the standings. Teams always need a balance of youth and experience in order to win. The rockets are pretty far away from that.

The front office wants the spurs to tank, but the players for the most part have ignored the memo. At least this group plays hard which is enjoyable to watch even when they lose. Lose enough games and we get a decent draft pick. Manage the cap and maybe we can sign so mid range vets and then maybe we don't have to talk about tanking so much next year.

And? Everybody knows the Lakers are a bad team and everybody knows they don't own their pick. They would still be in front of the Spurs in the lottery so what's your point? And if you don't want to talk about the tank so much next year, guess what: You tank this year and the tank is over. That's why people are asking for the tank instead of making it a 5 year process like they did for the past 5 seasons.

[jjspur]

Nah, I get that part just saying we do have our pick technically and will be worse if it ends up #1 or #2

It sucks when a team makes a move and then it manages to backfire a bit. Granted the lakers did get a bubble championship out of that trade, but in the long run it might not look as a great move after all, with the number of players and picks given up or swapped. The Pels still have to pick a decent player to make the trade worthwhile, but like you said its worse for the lakers if the pels get a #1 or 2 pick.

[jjspur]

And? Everybody knows the Lakers are a bad team and everybody knows they don't own their pick. They would still be in front of the Spurs in the lottery so what's your point? And if you don't want to talk about the tank so much next year, guess what: You tank this year and the tank is over. That's why people are asking for the tank instead of making it a 5 year process like they did for the past 5 seasons.

Dude Chill. Reality check. Absolutely no one wants a 5 year tank. There are no guarantees in tanking, Front offices want to tank because its a money decision. The players don't want to tank because it makes them look bad as an individual player even if they leave the team. The last few years the spurs made the play in tournament, didn't win anything but it wasn't tanking like the magic or rockets or blazers. Now Wembanyama is available to be drafted and everyone goes nuts trying to tank. Well the odds are 14% that a team gets him if they finish in the bottom 4. The odds are 3 times against getting him even if they do finish in the bottom 4. A team will need to be pretty bad and a bit of luck as well.

Check #2 When a team tanks there are a lot of losers - not only the front office and the players, its everyone who has even the smallest stake in the team. From part time employees, restaurant owners, bar owners , small business owners, online sales of merchandise - they all lose as well. Even a website like this one would lose visitors if the team was constantly losing like the kings have for the past 15 years. Just something to consider.

Check #3 Whomever gets Wembanyama will be bad and definitely lucky, but they will get a generational talent no doubt. David Robinson was a generational talent. He improved the spurs record by 20 some odd games - great. Did he win us a championship ....NO. It wasn't until Tim Duncan another generational talent actually a GOAT showed up, and then it was 2 years before they won the first championship. (by the way, we weren't the worst team in that draft so we did get lucky) Last generational player was Lebron. It took him 9 years to win a championship and he did it by joining a team with stars already there.

Point is there will be a number of teams that will try to tank. All but a few will lose trying to get the big prize(s). If a team is bad but still tries to win, that's one thing - they just don't have enough overall talent to win - I think that's where the spurs are. There are teams that constantly lose year after year. Their issues are bigger than just basketball. Then there are teams like the lakers who pull a off a fast deal in the short run but it bites them in the long run. Everyone else is trying to get to the playoffs and not terribly concerned about getting the top pick unless it's thru trade. That's the compe ion for the number 1 pick and it's a lot. So the point is, there's going to be a lot of hurtful losing for a "chance" to be lucky. Some people will say it's better than no chance, but is all that losing worth it. I don't know but I'm absolutely sure the spurs front office is having that very same discussion. At the end of the day they make the decision good or bad to still be somewhat respectable or to throw in the towel early in the downhill race for Wembamyama. Its a tough call.

[exstatic]

I’m curious as to who’s in charge of player development for the spurs. Seems like whoever was in the past did really well (Georgie, nephew, DWhite, DJ) and now KJ and Dev. Hopefully whoever’s in charge of that now will be able to develop the 3 rookies.

They’ve cycled through a few. I know Will Hardy, now HC in Utah, was one of them.

[poopbox]

Well played