Everything Bruno Caboclo

[S.R.]

It's such a brainless way of building to just tear it all down and cross your fingers on picks. Anybody can do that. I'd rather keep winning and see what else Masai has up his sleeve

This is a middle way to keep moving forward with team-friendly contracts, accumulating tradeable assets that help you win some games now and swing for the fences as soon as something comes up. The Rockets did this, and traded for or signed all of Harden, Howard, and Parsons. None of them were drafted by the Rockets. I remember when Morey had decent teams full of pretty good players but no superstars, and he was being criticized for it then. Now he's ended up with an MVP-runner-up without tanking.

Only one anecdote, I know, but I don't know that the odds are any better one way or the other. The Raps won't be a treadmill team if they hand-out smart contracts - a big part of being locked in to mediocrity is overpaying non-stars and losing your roster flexibility. Whether you keep moving forward or take a step back, just don't give out bad contracts.

[Bandit]

It's such a brainless way of building to just tear it all down and cross your fingers on picks. Anybody can do that. I'd rather keep winning and see what else Masai has up his sleeve

I totally disagree with it being brainless, and I'm fine to disagree on that front.

What I'm not ok with is being labelled as a loser or as having a loser mentality. There are different ways of building and wanting to use one of the main tools in the draft is not losing. No matter what is said, ultimately none of us want to see anyone on the raps fail or for the team to lose. That's the one thing we all have in common.

Anyone throwing around "loser mentality" should go watch game 4 of Wiz vs Raps again. The raptors practically had their golf bags behind the bench cause they had no intentions of winning. That's not a collection of players I'm willing to support, because that is a loser mentality. I want to win, I just have a different set of beliefs as to what will get us there.

[Bandit]

Contenders within how many years?

From today?

If they keep developing and get a a decent FA signing they could be one of the top teams in the east in 2 years IMO.

Of course like any other situation, bad decisions/Injuries/Bad luck/Other teams could cost them

Edit: I'm saying the 2016/2017 season they make the second round/ecf and then in 2017/2018 they could be a contender if they still have their core

[OldSkoolCool]

Contenders within how many years?

3-4 years depending on what they do with their front court

However leading up to those contention years will also be a joy to watch.

[golden]

Loser mentality riiiight

Now the Bucks look pretty damn good

Bucks might not be the best example of tearing it all down - a lot of luck involved here. Interesting thing is that the Bucks were actually trying hard to make the playoffs and ended up being crap the year before drafting Jabari. The Bucks got lucky with Giannis and were smart in hiring Jason Kidd - who is turning out to be a surprisingly excellent coach both for player development (e.g. Middleton, Henson) and game strategy.

It's kind of the opposite of the Raps who tried to tank and then got unexpectedly good. Bucks tried to build a competitive team and ended up sucking Philly bad. There's a lengthy article on the Bucks, dated just before the start of the 2013-14 season.... questioning the path they were on to mediocrity, as opposed to flat out tanking that they ended up doing that season.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...ilwaukee-bucks

[OldSkoolCool]

Bucks are a good example of a team that always wanted mediocrity. Now that they accidentally stumbled into the draft the team is looking better than ever.

Maybe we intentionally head there??

[mcHAPPY]

Bucks are a good example of a team that always wanted mediocrity. Now that they accidentally stumbled into the draft the team is looking better than ever.

Maybe we intentionally head there??

New ownership in Milwaukee too. That is huge.

[MixxAOR]

Bucks are a good example of a team that always wanted mediocrity. Now that they accidentally stumbled into the draft the team is looking better than ever.

Maybe we intentionally head there??

If they don't lose Middleton. But if they do then it's Michael Carter Williams, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker. I personally don't like their roster that much.

[KeonClark]

New ownership in Milwaukee too. That is huge.

That's everything. They went from a guy that wanted to at least make 8th seed every season to an ownership that knows the value of developing the Po's and Parkers of the world.

That said, the fact that the 8th seed has become such a black plague, or a terrible thing to get is why they need to change these tanking/draft rules. There is a serious problem in your league when at least 4 or 5 playoff teams don't even want to be there every year.

[DanH]

If they don't lose Middleton. But if they do then it's Michael Carter Williams, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jabari Parker. I personally don't like their roster that much.

Best part about building through the draft - only way they lose Middleton is if they choose to lose him. They have the right to match any offer. If they aren't willing to pay what others are for their talent, that's their own fault.

[Bonus Jonas]

And even if they don't keep Middleton, Po-Parker is a much much better foundation than we have.

[MixxAOR]

Best part about building through the draft - only way they lose Middleton is if they choose to lose him. They have the right to match any offer. If they aren't willing to pay what others are for their talent, that's their own fault.

They traded Jennings for Middleton. Not really building through draft. Just good trade. It would make sense for Bucks not to overpay him and I feel like he will be.

[MixxAOR]

And even if they don't keep Middleton, Po-Parker is a much much better foundation than we have.

well that's not really impressive lol

[Bonus Jonas]

well that's not really impressive lol

True, but I think it's a much better foundation than most teams. Add to that Kidd and that's a great start for being a year removed from tanking

[MixxAOR]

True, but I think it's a much better foundation than most teams. Add to that Kidd and that's a great start for being a year removed from tanking

Minnesota rebuilt like a beast. They have the brightest future. Orlando is good. Boston is good. We didn't see Embiid so people forgot about him I guess but he's gonna be better than Parker. Plus they have this year's draft pick.
It's hard to judge these Eastern Conference teams to be honest, this conference is so trash.