If he’s not I’m sure Rat will let us know milliseconds after hearing the news.

Hypnotizing question of the day found on reddit : swap Lowry and Curry this year, who titles?

I'd take the Maple Curry's pretty easily.

it's curry ainec

Pretty ridiculous to be of the opinion that it's not even close

It's not close

One thing that tanking teams have to do better is developing future assets. Sharp tanking teams (oxymoron?) have the luxury to give minutes to players that teams trying to compete cannot afford to give. I'd almost treat the season as a tryout and be constantly looking for guys that can be had for cheap. It's easier said than done but it just doesn't seem like the bottom tier teams make enough moves in season.

A decent example of this is Phoenix with Ariza. He fits great now but by the time the Suns are actual playoff contenders he should be a negative player. It would be a major mistake if they didn't trade him this season. I think finding a future role player who fits with my core is more valuable than the increase in development you achieve surrounding youth with veterans.

I would try and load up on as many potential 3+D players as possible. Particularly guys who are just below decent 3pt shooters with above average defensive tools. Guys like Noah Vonleh, OG Anouby, Jonathan Isaac, and Justise Winslow are on the higher end of this target list. I'm sure there's a decent amount of end of the bench players and G-leaguers who could be even more accessible.

I heard Kawhi sucks and is a huge ***** so I'd go Woyas.

No tanking team has worked out how to do it well, as tanking hasn't really achieved much in recent NBA history.

Amazingly enough, that's what the Knicks have been doing.

I’d guess Vegas would still have the warriors as even money vs the field to win the championship

Warriors would be favorite though it would be a closer.

If you could guarantee Curry's health, then it would be very close.

taking the woyas still. the sixers achieved quite a bit via tanking. what were their title odds this year? people say they didn't build a contender so it didn't "work", but that is a bit of a strawman imo.

i believe i saw morey suggest that while there is undoubtedly a lot of volatility in the draft, the teams consistently picking in the lotto skew the results due to weak management

From the last 10 years 76ers are probably the only team I can think of that you can say did well from tanking. And they came out of it with two good players (admittedly two very good, if injury prone, players) from a lot of draft picks.

People may point to the Cavs, but lets be honest. They had 3 number 1 picks in 4 years and if LeBron decides he doesn't want to come back they peak at a 5th (?) seed.

This is a fair comment. But I also look at it as strong managements don't like to tank. Hence why they are strong managements.

Someone should give minutes to D-League guys to try and find gem 3&D guys. Maybe when you find one, use the cheap contract you signed him to to get leverage to renegotiate and extend him so the later years of his deal are still a good bargain. He'd be a great asset to include when a win now coach/president of bball ops has to trade a star. So long as you don't get fired and the next guy doesn't give away a ton of assets to draft a mentally broken guard #1 before getting fired himself for leaking team info via burner twitter accounts it'll work great.

HINKIE GOAT

Hinkie found Covington and TJ McConnell that way. Don't know if Jerami Grant as a 2nd rounder counts too.

Curry team to be pretty decent faves in a hypothetical Finals matchup, even without home court. Risk of injury and the tougher run (West is MILES deeper but the semi and conference finals in East are fair bit tougher imo) muddy it a little. Still going Curry team as hypothetical Vegas faves right now.

EDIT: and playing in East for regular season increases chance of getting home court too

Dammit Vic is out again tonight. Was really looking forward to Vic vs. Kemba.

Not a big barstool guy outside of PFT, but Portnoy hits the nail on the head here (though he should have added that Cleveland’s deplorable behavior helped spur the narrative to get lebron to come back, so its a reasonable tactical move as well)

https://www.barstoolsports.com/bosto...eason-to-live/

he doesnt suck, hes actually incredibly talented. he's just a massive coward and team cancer. reminds me of dwight coward in every way.

Yah he was pretty cowardly in the 2014 NBA Finals.

I think trying to get all of your players on the same timeline is overrated. Offense can always be adjusted for personnel, so I think one thing teams should do is determine what sort of defensive system they want to create around their core and get players who fit that system. If you have a young core, you should prefer older players who fit your defensive system over young players who project to be a bad fit. If you don't trust in your ability to replace aging role players with draft picks and free agents, you shouldn't be a GM. Or get poor man's versions of the role players you want to surround your future stars with as placeholders until you can upgrade.

With a young team, I'd try to install a try-hard defense and bench players who want to shoot their way to big contracts without any effort on the other end. I'm convinced that scoring specialists who do nothing else well are bad fits for a multi-star core and are a waste of resources if you try to develop them. I'm honestly not sold on Devin Booker as a foundational piece there and can get on board with the idea of trading him in a couple of years for a legitimate two-way star who is several years older.

If Phoenix has cap space in the summer of 2019, one thing that signing Ariza does is demonstrate that a younger, better version of Ariza would be a good fit for the Suns, assuming things go well, and that a free agent who fits that description should strongly consider signing with Phoenix. I don't think the Suns are that smart, but that is why I would have considered signing Ariza in their situation.

#FACTS

lol Portnoy should stick to what he's good at, crying

Has... has Dave Portnoy ever had sex? Or does he regularly jack off on his used condoms and thinks that is normal?

The Celtics are pathetic