OKC Tank 2007-2009

[TDomination]

OKC isn't a great example. They in essence didn't win anything except a conference banner but they were in the hunt annually. I don't think anyone serious is expecting the Spurs to be in the hunt. They just expect to see something resembling team building and development of the 1st overall phenom.

the whole point is showing what it takes to build a contender. the specifics of what happened in OKC once they got to that point are irrelevant because that had to do with their individual decisions (i.e. harden leaving, and the feud between russ and durant).
hopefully we're able to manage our stars better but this is what it will take to get to that level.

[exstatic]

Good reminder that the Sonics sucked during Durant's rookie season. I hope Wemby is aware of their struggles during that rookie season considering he's a big KD guy.

yes, i believe they started 3-11 as well. Lebron's Cavs were 4-16 to start the year.

Spurs “fans” would do well to note this, as well.

[scott]

but we also traded away core components of our roster (d white, murray, poeltl and even richardson) when the plan became centered on the prospect of getting Wemby so I think it's not a reach to say that this was actually year 1 of the process as opposed to year 4, or that it's a reboot facilitated by landing the top prize. the spurs were stuck in neutral with no real center piece to build around. OKC had KD on which the rest could be placed around. if we look at the rockets, where are they going? or the pistons? these teams are facing the fate that the spurs are trying to jettison from. neither team has a franchise player. the rockets then went and spent too much on free agents that will, at best, get them into the play in games.

Fair enough point, though this does provide an extra damning indictment of PAFTO, who spent the proceeding 3 seasons (prior to last season) failing without a plan and only landing late lotto picks. Now it's a 7 year rebuild instead of a 3/4-year rebuild.

I do think it is worth noting that Wemby will have the most external pressure on him since LeBron James to move to a bigger market as soon as he can. LeBron's team generated a winning record in Year 2, and made the playoffs in Year 3. Will Wemby tolerate being one of the worst teams in the league for his first 3 seasons? This is a real risk, especially in the modern NBA and hopefully the FO (and fans) are completely aware of this and have a sense of urgency. Posters here can talk about how Wemby seems like a good kid who doesn't care about that... but you're fooling yourselves. Wemby is a true star who has not just the national, but the global, spotlight on him. He's also only human, and it may not be worth resisting just so he can play for a loser franchise with a rich history.

[rjv]

Fair enough point, though this does provide an extra damning indictment of PAFTO, who spent the proceeding 3 seasons (prior to last season) failing without a plan and only landing late lotto picks. Now it's a 7 year rebuild instead of a 3/4-year rebuild.

I do think it is worth noting that Wemby will have the most external pressure on him since LeBron James to move to a bigger market as soon as he can. LeBron's team generated a winning record in Year 2, and made the playoffs in Year 3. Will Wemby tolerate being one of the worst teams in the league for his first 3 seasons? This is a real risk, especially in the modern NBA and hopefully the FO (and fans) are completely aware of this and have a sense of urgency. Posters here can talk about how Wemby seems like a good kid who doesn't care about that... but you're fooling yourselves. Wemby is a true star who has not just the national, but the global, spotlight on him. He's also only human, and it may not be worth resisting just so he can play for a loser franchise with a rich history.

SA fans will always be worried about a star player leaving, especially since nephew pulled his little stunt but in order to feed this sense of dread, we have to assume that the spurs will continue to be this bad for the next two years. i don't think the spurs have any intention of wasting any more of Wemby's years than they have to. i'd say that they are more likely to follow the path of jordan's bulls (or the magic with shaq until they screwed it up by low-balling the diesel) than lebron's cavs.

i absolutely agree that the spurs seemed to be lacking a plan for a few critical years and made some bad picks in between but i also think that if we had a plan, or if we had drafted a sengun or halliburton instead, that wemby we would have never been positioned well enough to land Wemby.

[scott]

SA fans will always be worried about a star player leaving, especially since nephew pulled his little stunt but in order to feed this sense of dread, we have to assume that the spurs will continue to be this bad for the next two years. i don't think the spurs have any intention of wasting any more of Wemby's years than they have to. i'd say that they are more likely to follow the path of jordan's bulls (or the magic with shaq until they screwed it up by low-balling the diesel) than lebron's cavs.

i absolutely agree that the spurs seemed to be lacking a plan for a few critical years and made some bad picks in between but i also think that if we had a plan, or if we had drafted a sengun or halliburton instead, that wemby we would have never been positioned well enough to land Wemby.

This used to be my thinking as well... but we got Wemby and we're still going to be in a position to "get Wemby" (meaning, have some of the best odds for the top pick) this year. If Wemby himself isn't enough to get you out of Wembyland, then I don't think Halliburton or Sengun would have been.

In any event, it would have been nice for the Spurs to have a plan so that this was the penultimate or ultimate year of the tank, not the 2nd year. But in any event, we are here... and I still think a little more urgency is needed. We don't have go trading for Dame, but I don't think being even worse than last year is going to do the franchise a lot of favors in the long run. I'd rather finish with the 8th pick this year and show some progress than first with the 1st pick again and look like we've regressed.

[Extra Stout]

OP is right, but that still does not explain why this team seems way worse than last years team. Perhaps having Poeltl for half the season is a difference maker, but otherwise it’s a bit mindboggling that we get blown out so often this early in the season.

They are starting Jeremy Sochan at point guard and he is really bad at it. They routinely put up sub-100 point games in a league where 120 is now normal.