I’d rather tank for a Top 5 pick (that can be our last missing piece) than to be a middle of the pack team who misses the playoffs AND ends up with a mid-1st round pick.

No tanking.

They just need to throw GG out there and let him cook already. And before someone says “He iSnT rEaDy FoR NbA mInUtEs”, half our bench looks like they aint ready for NBA minutes.

When we got ja, we never packed it up that season and were rewarded with the #2 pick. When we did try to lose, we got the #4 pick.

TLDR: always play to win, let the chips fall where they may.

Depends how much of a run we can go on when Ja gets back. We’re currently 6.5 games behind the 6th seed. Not easy but not impossible. I’d rather soft tank than hit the play in tbh. Almost a guaranteed first round exit for us.

Tanking is not a good look - guys don’t want to play for tanking teams. It fucks with the culture. Makes guys develop bad habits.

We have GOT to stop drafting wings when our biggest need is at the 5. Any decent 7-footer projected to go first round will do but Alex Starr, in my opinion, is worth hedging your bets for.

A lot of people on this sub are trying to do the math on how we can go to the playoffs but there’s no value in that because we’re just not winning it all this year. And if you’re not going to win the big prize of a championship then you might as well aim for the next biggest prize, which is the number one draft pick. At the rate we’re losing, by the time Ja returns we still won’t be in any form to be a contender. And even at full health, there are still some lingering questions about how well Stevo fits into our playoff calculus. We need another big. Not another short big like X —who is really just a traditional center, only short and not one who creates matchup problems for the opposing teams— or someone who might only give us a year like Bizzy but someone young who can be under contract long enough for us to take a few stabs at the finals.

As for a wing, we honestly already have the one we need: GG Jackson. Not only is he young but he’s cheap for us now and we’ll be able to give him a really nice contract to keep him around longer when the time comes.

I don’t get why fans wanna tank so early in the season. Are you actually going to be watching the games or just browsing box scores? Cause no fan wants us to watch them play like shit night in and night out.

Ja comes back, we are gonna start winning. Hopefully it’s well enough to reach a playin. Cause if we do, means we been kicking ass. Fuck a ping ping ball and the potential to draft the next Zairie

I don’t see the team tanking or “positioning ourselves in the draft,” as you put it. We may get a little more experimental with lineups and playing younger players like GG more, but honestly the flattening of the lottery odds has made it’s much less advantageous to deliberately lose. Plus the basketball gods reward trying.

If we get to the point that we mathematically cannot qualify for the play-in, then sure. Rest some guys and focus on finding out who can and cannot be quality contributors to our future success. Until then, why can’t we make a run? The Heat made the finals as an 8 seed and the Lakers went to the WCF as a 7 seed. No reason we couldn’t do the same if we get a chance.

When there’s no mathematical chance we can make the play in.

It’s amazing to me that people are thinking about this right now because this team is not trying to tank, and they are losing. So why even worry with it?

We don’t because we have Ja.