2015 Nba Draft Discussion: Russell, Nance Jr., Brown

I agree with you completely about Mudiay. I think he's a big project that has the possibility of great things, but will need a ton of work

 

He strikes me as the kind of kid that if he ends up in a crappy situation, he'll flame out. Tons of talent, but he needs to work on so many things. I hope he doesn't end up somewhere that can't take of him.

 

you really dont think the C Bags are a team to worry about as someone who could out tank us. Even without Kobe now or at least it looks that way I think we'll be neck and neck with them the rest of the season

 

It will be interesting to see how the team reacts. The advanced metrics (if you buy into that sort of thing which I don't fully) would say we will improve with Kobe now out for the year, thereby making it somewhat likely we pull ahead of the Cs. I want to finish at least bottom 4. The fifth spot scares me cause if one team jumps up, Phoenix scores. I would also love to flip Hill for another 1st. Package the two later ones for a bit higher pick on draft day?

 

Boston just beat Portland IN Portland. They're in a better spot than we are right now. I think they're also a little more talented than we are. They're in full tank mode, but I expect them to not be able to out tank us.

I see us most likely finishing 4th but with a chance now to slip into the Bottom 3. Minnesota will get back Rubio and Martin which should make them better. The Knicks still have Carmelo which should make them better than us at least. I expect absolutely nothing from the Sixers.

 

If we pass any of the teams below us it'll be New York. Melo can single handedly win games in the East. Minny will have trouble getting past us though because of how tough the West is. Think about it. If we continue at our current pace, which seems more or less likely, Minny would have to finish 18-23 to close out the season. That's almost .500. That team is currently 7-34. Short of OKC trading them Durant for Pekovic, Minny ain't passing us. We have a half season sample size at this point. It's unrealistic to expect Minny to go from a 17% to 44% team. Rubio ain't that big of a game changer.

 

But Kobe might be. We're unlikely to have Kobe for the rest of the season. If Young or Hill misses any time our team might be the least talented team in the NBA. Without Kobe and Randle our team is shockingly devoid of talent. The Wolves might not catch-up to us, but they could come close.

 

Like I said though, some advanced metrics say we may improve without him on the floor. I don't know if I buy it, but a sg hoisting it up at a 37% clip (which now seems like it may have been related to the shoulder being hurt since the preseason) isn't going to be to hard to replace. I honestly think our play with him and without him has been equally atrocious.

The one thing we have going for us as it pertains to Boston catching us is they play in the east, so they will have a ton of games that can go either way. If the standings in the West continue to stay as tight as they are now, the Lakers aren't going to get as many of those "surprise" wins against vastly superior teams.

 

Well we might "get better" without this version of Kobe, but how much better? And how much will that stay true over the long-run? Are we better enough to actually win a few games? Even if we get marginally better without Kobe is it better enough to win more than Philadelphia, New York, or Minnesota?

 

We are tanking. We aren't going to improve. We are starting Clarkson and Kelly and developing our youth. I don't think we are trying to win games any more.

 

I'm going full on Magic Johnson now. I don't want us to win a single game from here on out and honestly when I look at what we have I think that might come true. Maybe they overachieve somehow and win a few more, but really, who are we better than? We're not better than the Knicks in terms of personnel regardless of the fact that they can't seem to play in the Triangle. We're not better than Minny or Utah or Sacto. We're probably better than Philly and Orlando and maybe the C Bags but they are in the Leastern conference and will probably win more games going forward because of it.

 

Decided to check on some of our tank opponents with the free League Pass.

The Sixers are worse than us by a wide margin. They're awful. They have no organization and no plan. Just truly terrible.

The Knicks are worse.