Hindsight Time: Should we have tanked?

[ball4life]

I don't understand your love for Lowry. Is it because he finally had one decent year after 8 years in the league and is getting paid double what he did last year? Is it because he's a huge pg that can get blocked by Kevin Hart? Is it because he's getting paid like he's an all star when he likely never will be? Is it because he's 28 and a young prospect with potential to improve?

seriously dude?
Lebron got dunked on by a highschool kid.. should the Heat send LeBron to the D-league?

[007]

I don't understand your love for Lowry. Is it because he finally had one decent year after 8 years in the league and is getting paid double what he did last year? Is it because he's a huge pg that can get blocked by Kevin Hart? Is it because he's getting paid like he's an all star when he likely never will be? Is it because he's 28 and a young prospect with potential to improve?

Uhh, he's 6'0.

[Wiggins]

What are you talking about?

Pierce played more in the playoffs than he did in the regular season. MORE. He averaged 30.7 mpg.

And Livingston was one of their most important players, arguably right behind JJ and Pierce. They really needed the length and athleticism he brought, as well as the extra post player to give JJ a rest from initiating their O. Not to mention a capable backup PG for Deron "anybody seen my ankles? I lost them at the buffet" Williams

Pierce was pretty well sat down at the end of that series, if he kept playing the raps may well have won.
And sorry did the raps beat the nets? If so I apologize. And from what I recall the nets were the 6 seed to the raps 3.
My point is the nets will be better,healthier and probably better coached next year than last and last year they were better than the healthy raps.

[Wiggins]

Uhh, he's 6'0.

...
Kevin Hart is like 5'3"
GV couldn't get blocked by him if he was sitting down.

[TSF]

Seriously? So adding an allstar is a bad thing? Hollins is a downgrade from Kidd? Pierce barely played and was pretty well benched during the playoffs and Livingston is a 3rd guard. Rose was a league MVP. Even if gasol or anyone doesn't go to the bulls they still got McDermott. What is your reasoning that the raps are better than Charlotte or Washington? Just because? And there's a HUGE difference between Wiggins and Parker or Bruno and Bebe ... See if Ujiri or anyone with a brain would draft Bruno or Bebe at #1 in this draft over wiggins and Parker. And I like Bruno at 20 but no way I'd pass wiggins or Parker for him at any point.

Uhm- With all due respect, yes. Kidd's flexibility and ingenuity after losing Lopez was the only reason they made the playoffs. And Pierce is a quality vet who was instrumental in getting them there. Livingston was key as well. And Rose WAS a league MVP mainly because of his insane athleticism and explosiveness- you know, things that you are absolutely NOT guarantee to get back after missing two years with successive leg injuries? Uhm, well, for Charlotte- Lowry is better than Walker. DD is better than Henderson. Ross is better than MKG. Amir is better than McRoberts. The ONLY positional battle they win is C. And for Washington- Last year, Lowry was better than Wall. DD was better than Beal. Ariza was better than Ross. Gortat/Nene is better than JV, but Amir is better than Booker. They have a shot if Nene and Gortat both start, but Nene has NEVER been healthy.
And yes Wiggins is a better prospect, so is Parker, but we have a much better system for Bruno/Bebe to come into and improve than Cleveland or Milwaukee.

[BobLoblaw]

Way too early. We are still in the moment. We haven't even seen 2014 rookies play a summer league game, much less an NBA game, much less get a couple NBA years under their belts and develop. So how can we judge if we should've tanked for them or not.

And we haven't seen how Lowry performs next year either, does he stay healthy, do we manage to get anyone meaningfull with all that cap space. I don't see how we could know the answer to that question yet.

Nor do I see much point in guessing. The choice has been made, time to focus on the ride and enjoy it. We'll see where it takes us.

[TSF]

Pierce was pretty well sat down at the end of that series, if he kept playing the raps may well have won.
And sorry did the raps beat the nets? If so I apologize. And from what I recall the nets were the 6 seed to the raps 3.
My point is the nets will be better,healthier and probably better coached next year than last and last year they were better than the healthy raps.

Really? Better and better coached? Losing their only good small forward? Garnett getting even older/worse? Losing and 8-3-3 guy who started 54 games for them and was instrumental in their defense?

Nets made the playoffs, and then beat us because of their sweet-shooting unit, which was filled with long limbs and a switched scheme on defense. Without Pierce and Livingston, they can't play that system. Kidd was the guy who put that system in place. He is also the guy who realized when they needed more shooting, and made the decision to start Alan Anderson which swung the series. Face it- Kidd is a good coach already.

[white men can't jump]

Pierce was pretty well sat down at the end of that series, if he kept playing the raps may well have won.
And sorry did the raps beat the nets? If so I apologize. And from what I recall the nets were the 6 seed to the raps 3.
My point is the nets will be better,healthier and probably better coached next year than last and last year they were better than the healthy raps.

Well, they'll be missing pieces that were key to their run, so I don't know how their roster gets better. Their old guys will be a year older. They will not be healthy (Williams just had surgery on both his ankles, and Lopez is always a high injury risk), and if they are, they will have a harder time juggling their roster...KG was abysmal as a PF to start the year. They didn't start having success until Lopez went down, KG was moved to C, PP to PF, and they spread the floor out around Johnson. If they lose Pierce, they don't have the stretch forward to create space for JJ to operate in the post.

The Nets won that series by one point. That's with a gimpy Lowry, Ross shitting the bed, Jonas neutered by the officials as the series went on, and generally a more favorable whistle in every single game except one. They will have a much harder time improving on their performance than we will. They already lost Livingston. Their ownership doesn't want to spend as much as last year because they lost tons of money. They could also lose Pierce, Anderson and Blatche, and then you're looking at half the rotation that succeeded gone.

[chico]

Way too early. We are still in the moment. We haven't even seen 2014 rookies play a summer league game, much less an NBA game, much less get a couple NBA years under their belts and develop. So how can we judge if we should've tanked for them or not.

And we haven't seen how Lowry performs next year either, does he stay healthy, do we manage to get anyone meaningfull with all that cap space. I don't see how we could know the answer to that question yet.

Nor do I see much point in guessing. The choice has been made, time to focus on the ride and enjoy it. We'll see where it takes us.

That may be some serious back-peddling for some people who seemed to KNOW, without a doubt, and argued endlessly, that tanking was the ONLY way the team would ever be anything other than a treadmill team. Therefore, I see the OP question as a relevant one to ask of pro-tankers now, and see a "well we have to wait and see how the future plays out" as a cop-out.

[TSF]

Well, they'll be missing pieces that were key to their run, so I don't know how their roster gets better. Their old guys will be a year older. They will not be healthy (Williams just had surgery on both his ankles, and Lopez is always a high injury risk), and if they are, they will have a harder time juggling their roster...KG was abysmal as a PF to start the year. They didn't start having success until Lopez went down, KG was moved to C, PP to PF, and they spread the floor out around Johnson. If they lose Pierce, they don't have the stretch forward to create space for JJ to operate in the post.

The Nets won that series by one point. That's with a gimpy Lowry, Ross shitting the bed, Jonas neutered by the officials as the series went on, and generally a more favorable whistle in every single game except one. They will have a much harder time improving on their performance than we will. They already lost Livingston. Their ownership doesn't want to spend as much as last year because they lost tons of money. They could also lose Pierce, Anderson and Blatche, and then you're looking at half the rotation that succeeded gone.

Per Grantland- 144 MILLION DOLLARS THEY LOST THIS YEAR.
131 MILLION DOLLARS MORE THAN ANY OTHER TEAM IN THE NBA.
Jesus christ.

[Triplethreat89]

Why is everyone bringing up the Tanking concept over and over again
It's really frustrating

[octothorp]

I had thought that we'd heard the last of the tank debates and it was time to change my signature. Guess I'll leave it on for a few more months.

[Wiggins]

I won't bother I really thought Brooklyn beat Toronto this year and maybe the best centre in the east Brook Lopez would help their team. Don't suppose anyone saw Joe Johnson rip the Raptors apart by himself without Pierce or Garnett doing anything. I also thought Lionel Hollins was a good coach ... Oh well.

[Bonus Jonas]

I won't bother I really thought Brooklyn beat Toronto this year and maybe the best centre in the east Brook Lopez would help their team. Don't suppose anyone saw Joe Johnson rip the Raptors apart by himself without Pierce or Garnett doing anything. I also thought Lionel Hollins was a good coach ... Oh well.

Hmm there's this guy named Joakim Noah, not sure if you've heard of him

[Akkerman]

I won't bother I really thought Brooklyn beat Toronto this year and maybe the best centre in the east Brook Lopez would help their team. Don't suppose anyone saw Joe Johnson rip the Raptors apart by himself without Pierce or Garnett doing anything. I also thought Lionel Hollins was a good coach ... Oh well.

lol you're so stupid, the benefits Tross, JV, and DD got from not tanking (the future of our team) is far greater than the benefits any rookie could give us coming into this year.