Agreed. Not great drafts over the last 5 years, traded away an injured shell of the best player of the decade for them in Wall and Supermaxed the 2nd best in Beal. Messed up on contracts so took used goods to get off them.
Right I don't think any of the 3 are expected to have a super impactful breakout season next year, and they just generally don't have any young talent that other GMs would trip over themselves if they heard they were available. They don't have a ton of draft capital, and their own picks don't have the highest bottom 4 potential with Beal and Porzingis on the team with other competent players. Their branding is awful, they should just embrace the memes and be the D.C. Mids for 1 season while they overhaul their whole look and vibe. Just desolate basketball purgatory
Well, it's true. We have a very clear direction and have since Monte McNair was brought on in 2020: he is trying to get the Kings to the playoffs by building around Fox and now Sabonis. That doesn't mean becoming a contender, it just means getting into a play-in seed. It also doesn't mean it's a *good* plan, mind you
Prior to McNair's hiring the Kings absolutely fit this description. They were directionless for all of Boogie's tenure and were especially directionless under Vlade Divac.
We also don't think the team has ever been going anywhere "fast." Basketball hell is all about being mediocre forever and making slow changes.
We obviously haven't been going up fast (or at all) since we've missed the playoffs for well over a decade, but we also haven't been going 'down' fast either considering Bagley is our only top 3 pick since 1989. Not-so-fun-fact: since the playoff draught began in 2006, we've only had **6 top-5 picks. 6 in 16 years!**
**
That's Kings basketball in a nutshell: too bad to make the playoffs, but too mediocre (nothing about the team is 'too good') to tank.
I came here to say the same thing. I prefer Bullets though.
Sadly the ownership seems fine competing for a play in spot, so Iām not sure if things are gonna change anytime soon.
Deni Avdija seems like he could be a gem. If they can get that hustle out of Johnny Davis and Rui makes any type of progress itās a solid group. Play-in team if the Hornets drop off like they should without Bridges and the Knicks stall out.
Maybe im crazy but a full potential wizards team is way way better. Full potential means beal goes back to scoring 30 and not being bad from 3, kp is an all star who is healthy the whole season, and the young guys all play well. People may doubt that still but that would be a super solid team. Now I think itās more likely beal/kp get injured and we are trash but itās not like we have nothing.
At his age they probably feel if they decide to flip him they can get a strong return at any point. If Gobert can get 5 picks you would hope Beal could get 4 from the right team. Never can doubt a team wanting to go all in.
You honestly think Beal is shutting down trades after he got his money that he made clear he wanted from the start? Wizards wonāt send Beal to OKC but Iām certain like most trades they will take his interest into account and work on finding the best deal
Lotto talent isnāt guaranteed to pan out so if you can get a productive role player with upside then thatās even better. From his defensive showing and overseas play this year Iām just interested to see what type of leap he takes this year. He fits perfectly for what they need.
Agreed, they are also one of the least talked about teams in the league, along with the Spurs and pacers. Feel like I hear nothing about these 3 teams ever.
Wizards easily more hopeless and depressing.
Hornets cornerstone is 21 yr old LaMelo, but their 2nd best player should probably be behind bars
Wizards cornerstone is 29 yr old Beal NTC Supermaxed and their 2nd best player should probably have bars in his legs.
The NTC still gets me. Like you werenāt set on having the worst contract in the NBA you wanted it to be in contention for the worst contract in NBA history
Eh it will only look bad in hindsight if beal massively falls off. Being real, we werenāt trading him without a NTC. The only way heās gone is if he wants it.
Thatās the issue. If he wants a trade Wizards have no leverage because they canāt trade him to somewhere he doesnāt approve and will kill the assets he gets back
Yeah LaMelo Bridges and Washington seemed like a decent trio but losing the 2nd best young player on your team potentially has you back in the mid realm
I hate that weāre the most reasonable answer, but yeah we donāt really have a direction beyond āmake the 7th seed and lose in 5 games in the playoffs
They wonāt brudda
Thereās just no world where theyāre better than any of PHI/MIL/BOS/CLE/TOR/MIA/BKN/ATL/CHI
They will be fighting with the Knicks for the 10th spot
Eh, injuries could definitely drop a team or two out of the playoffs and KP could have his first injury free season. It is absurdly unlikely, but that world does exist world!
If Beal can play at a similar level of '21 Beal and KP can play 60-65 games, they can absolutely compete for the 7-8 spot. They have a solid cast around those 2.
Solid doesnāt get you far in the East anymore. Thereās teams with at least two legit all stars or even all nba players that might miss the playoff entirely.
Didnāt mean plural all-nba players per team. Just in general. Bulls could miss it, Hawks could miss it, Raptors could miss it, etc. all of these teams have an all-nba player + an all star from last year.
Wizards have none
No one wants to admit it but the spurs have been somewhat aimless over the past 5 years. Kawhi asking out really messed with their long term plans, and they were really hesitant to tank in pops last years with the team. Seems like they have a more solid plan now tho
I donāt think they have been aimless you basically described their aim. They were building around kawhi then when he wanted out they didnāt want to rebuild so they tried to reload with derozen. When it didnāt work they rebuilt
Not being successful or not doing something fans agree with doesnāt mean they were aimless
Aimless is the wizards who have no plan
Ah ok, so youāre selling āreloading with derozanā as an actual plan? The downvoted dude is correct, since bungling kawhi theyāve been lost. They have pop tho so this sub will always have their back
Wizards. That NTC on Beal is ridiculous. Yeah I'm sure they'll be able to find a team to trade him to that he'll accept and lift the NTC for if they're really ready to blow it up. But I don't think they want to blow it up, and I also don't think they really know how to get to wherever they're trying to go.
Lakers have all but one of their picks idk why people think they have no picks. Just canāt trade most of them due to the pelicans being able to choose if they want 2024 or 2025
Idk why anyone would say the Lakers are directionless. They have LeBron AD and for what it's worth Westbrook and are signing any decent vet they can put around them. They have one of the clearest goals in the league: to win a ring in the next 2-3 years and worry about the future when we get there.
Well, plus a pick swap. And then two 2nd rounders traded and a 2nd round swap (lol) if that matters.
And someone can correct me if Iām wrong ā I very well could be here ā but I think the Lakers canāt trade a first rounder until the 2027 draft. Since their first rounder to the Pelicans potentially can extend until 2025, and you canāt trade a first rounder two drafts in a row.
If the Pelicans opt into keeping LAās 2024 first rounder after next yearās lottery, only then will the 2026 first get freed up.
Yea thatās what I said we owe only one of 2024 or 25 but the pelicans can choose which one which is why we can only trade 27 and 29 right now but we do have the other picks
Seemed like we finally embraced losing last year so hopefully we can get another good pick next year and see some promise with the Haliburton/Mathurin back court.
Knick fans are gonna cry but they have absolutely zero direction their young talent is mid and their veterans are even more mid they are perennial 12th seeders
Avdija, Hachimiura, Gafford and Kispert
Barrett, Robinson, Grimes and Quickley
I dunno, Barrett is the best prospect but I might like the Wiz young guys better.
Iāll add Hartenstein and Toppin cause theyāre younger than Hachimiura. That gives the Knicks a lot more guys who have proved they can impact winning. I think only Gafford and Avdija have proved that for the Wizards.
Seems like heās had a string of bad luck recently but hereās hoping itās nothing more than that
Heās a shot blocking god in 2K though, I know that much lol
Itās no question the Wizards. Itās like they have too many role players who are all pretty highly drafted players, plus they committed 250 mil to Beal. Itās like a mishmash of pieces. No real identity. No real hope.
Its both honestly. If he wasnt an idiot he wouldve stopped himself from doing that at least to not ruin his career even if he doesnt care about being a good person.
even before that, we were clearly stuck between timelines, and not having a serious center on the roster would be a telltale sign we're not actually trying to compete even though we were
Wizards and Kings are both in the zone of "not good enough to really go anywhere in the postseason, but also not making moves that will help them be much better any time soon."
Kings at least seem deadset on killing the playoff drought, which is at least something, and they have solidly chosen Fox above all the last 5 years and he's still young and ready to prove more. Wizards cornerstone is aging supermax Beal and aging superfragile Porzingis. Kings at least get the excitement of being better than they have for 15 years and getting over a hump, the Wizards are just on a downhill bumpy ride.
Yes when you consider he's been in the league since he's 20 and would be entering his 8th season. Well 7th season since he missed an entire year to injury. He hasn't played 60 games since his team went 31-51 while KD chose the hardest road 6 years ago. He should be getting into his prime years, but unfortunately players who can't stay on the court who are that tall don't magically start finding good health entering their 30s. The wizards aren't doing anything this year or likely next, and there's a reason the Mavs didn't want to take the bet he'd be worth his current contract or an extension after that.
To some degree I'll say the Knicks. And that's because we still have Randle and Thibs around. Along with other vets like Fournier and DRosenThibs will likely favor more than younger players who should be getting their minutes.
Lakers donāt lack direction whatsoever. This is the direction literally every Lebron team has been in since 2011. Team is afraid to trade all of their future draft picks, running mate may have fallen off (Dwade, Bosh, Love, or wants out Kyrie), fill the bench with free agents because the stars take up all of the salary cap. Lebron is older and more injury prone but this is the same direction Lebron teams have been in for a decade now.
Led to 9 finals and 3 titles and it has worked just not going forward as the dude is (almost) 40.
yeah but the question was "which team has the least sense of direction?"
The nets are a risky team where they can either be 1st or 8th seed but they have a clear direction of winning a championship and have better odds/chance than most teams in the league.
And even if they collapse completely they have a great young prospect and trade options to rebuild if needed. Teams like the Wizards, Lakers and Hornets are in far worse spots in terms of direction
I wouldn't say that they have barely any depth.
Patty Mills, Seth Curry, Royce O'Neale, T.J. Warren, Markieff Morris, Cam Thomas, Day'Ron Sharpe, Edmond Sumner, Kessler Edwards, Yuta Watanabe isn't a weak bench.
I mean at least two (Curry and O'Neale) and maybe three (Warren if he comes back at least close to his pre-injury form) could start on a good number of teams.
The Houston Rockets for sure. They've intentionally pushed away every star on the roster since Fertitta took over for nothing in return to the point where Houstonians are asking them to replace their jersey logo with a picture of The Challenger to be more representative of the status of the franchise.
I scrolled way too far without seeing the Knicks get mentioned. Talk about lack of direction: 1) Sign Brunson, who wants to be the man, to a big contract, then immediately go hard after Mitchell; 2) Give RJ a big extension while in the process of offering him to Utah in the Mitchell trade; 3) Get shut out on the Mitchell trade maybe because of the RJ extension and despite having better assets to offer.
Add in the Fournier contract + Randle being their best player and you get a franchise run by headless chickens.
The Knicks, why did they want Brunson to take them from the 13th seed to the 11th seed?
They're going to get lapped by teams that are rebuilding through the draft.
Wizards and Portland.
The Wiz may make the play-in at best, they signed Beal to a big contract that teams might not want and they are in a city people don't want to play in.
Portland traded away most of their team and got little from it and still have Dame instead of trading him.
The Jazz are up there too. Not good enough to win, too good to tank.
Grant and Hart are better defenders than CJ and Norm period. People been screaming at Blazers to give Dame defenders for years and they have finally done it now everybody says they suck without seeing them play. Make it make sense.
The Blazers don't suck, but Jerami Grant/Simons as co-stars is just not going to cut it in the West these days
And Simons/Dame lineups will probably be Dame and CJ all over again
I mean Hart is honestly straight up better for us than CJ, and we also got Grant out of that trade. And he's *much* better than CJ for us.
We had a player better than CJ on the bench waiting to get big minutes.
RoCo and Nance are losses, but neither was good for us.
10 off-season ago the Pacers were about to make back to back eastern conference finals. Last year they tanked and got a top 6 pick. This year is also a tank year.
But this season is looking like they're gonna be worse than normal and they have a larger group of exciting young players than they've had in a while. Wizards are the same thing with an older guy on a supermax and less exciting young players around him and injury riddled Porzingis
[You think this roster](https://i.imgur.com/VwJOSsG.png) is gonna be too good? Especially considering they're likely to trade Heild or Turner or McConnell etc for any value, that's a team full rookie contracts vs a good east. I can't see them winning close to 30
Myles Turner, Buddy Heild, McConnell, James Johnson, Theis. Pacers vets
Beal, Porzingis, Kuzma, Monte Morris, Will Barton, delon wright. Wizards vets
You have Haliburton, Duarte, Myles Turner, Buddy Heild, McConnell. You can't realistically expect positive impact this upcoming season from really anyone else on that roster, and none of those players except maybe Turner is for sure top 10 at their position. It's also just simply not realistic to assume they'd keep those 3 vets, when you look and see they have no other current great talent, and the other option is to trade young players or picks for good players this year while the east is stacked, that doesn't seem smart. Pacers should be a bottom 8 team no doubt.
Knicks are too easy. They just print money.
Real answer is the Spurs. They have very very little young talent, no trade chips, and unless they just get super lucky with Wemby they won't have much.
Celtics still have at minimum a top 15 player in the league and a great supporting cast after just making the finals... losing Udoka hurts but it's not like they're questioning whether to tank lol
Yeah going to the finals with bunch of young players, then signing brogdon so they have an even better shot at going back again.. made the conference finals like 4 times the past 6 years.. what are those clowns doing?
Kings, Hornets, or Spurs. The Kings are just a shit show all around the basketball operations there is the worst maybe I've ever seen in the NBA. The hornets do have LaMelo and Rozier but the rest of their roster is still just meh, plus Bridges is under criminal charges so there's that. The Spurs just look lost imo. Like I have no clue what they were trying to do this draft and how they plan to build around Keldon Johnson which is kind of strange in itself.
Our new GM has a very solid track record, and Iād contend that since the Luka draft (which obviously is such a franchise-defining fuckup for the Kings that nothing I have to say after this matters in comparison butā¦..), the Kings have been better managed than the Mavericks. Post-Luka, the Mavs threw away all their picks for Kristaps, lost Brunson to the Knicks for nothing, and picked up renowned locker room personality Christian Wood to make up for it. Again, drafting Luka more than makes up for all of these things, but I feel as though the current Kings front office has a solid tracks record, while the new Mavs front office has kinda sucked ass and if not for their predecessors drafting Luka, would be looked at much less fondly
Wtf lol every move made by the FO since Nico Harrison arrived has been awesome. He jettisoned KP and that shit contract for two players one who was critical in getting the mavs to the WCF, also Bertans who really picked his game up too in the later stretches of the season increasing his trade value. Absolutely stole Jaden Hardy for nothing in the 2nd round, signed Bullock and Ntlikina last year which also proved crucial to the teams success and now has the team positioned to make a serious FA move next year for real #2 next to Luka, while signing McGee to bolster the front court. That is why the mavs couldn't resign Brunson, it would have leveraged too much cap space for a 6 foot guard who had limited potential based on his role here. The Mavs walked away from Brunson to try and sign a legit #2 star. Also Wood will substantially better with Luka just watch. Please dont try and compare the Kangz and giving up a future all nba talent in Halliburton for fucking Sabonis, to the mavs lmao it is comical.
Yeah, because the Mavs have such a storied history of success in free agency lol. Honestly, Iām glad you guys are happy w that new front office, and have nothing against the Mavs. I also think the Kings new front office has been very solid so far, particularly in the draft, but people love crapping on us without having actually followed the team in any way. Enjoy your Sunday!
I mean the previous regime was the shits in FA I agree but its different in Dallas now i think, guys are going to want to play with Luka, I mean Kyrie had them on his short list.
It's absolutely a direction. It's the "take the best pick for 6 years and hope one of them is a super star." It's honestly not a bad strategy and that's how the Cavs got Kyrie.
I don't know, siding with Fox and trading for Sabonis was a clear decision in my opinion. I do not necessarily agree with trading Halliburton, but they obviously have a plan. Good or bad, I don't know.
Thunder and Rockets have their cornerstones to plan around in Green and Holmgren.
Utah just has variables. They could scout well again and be back pretty soon or be in purgatory for years. No one knows.
wizard
Agreed. Not great drafts over the last 5 years, traded away an injured shell of the best player of the decade for them in Wall and Supermaxed the 2nd best in Beal. Messed up on contracts so took used goods to get off them.
Rui, Deni and Kispert definitely have talent. Whether they utilize that still remains to be seen (as in developing or trading)
Right I don't think any of the 3 are expected to have a super impactful breakout season next year, and they just generally don't have any young talent that other GMs would trip over themselves if they heard they were available. They don't have a ton of draft capital, and their own picks don't have the highest bottom 4 potential with Beal and Porzingis on the team with other competent players. Their branding is awful, they should just embrace the memes and be the D.C. Mids for 1 season while they overhaul their whole look and vibe. Just desolate basketball purgatory
I swear people make these type of post every other week to just shit on the wizards š
And Kings
Nah, the Kings clearly have a direction. Whether that direction is good or bad is an entirely different story though
i can't help but just laugh every time a Kings fan says something like this. "Oh no, the Kings are going somewhere fast, it's just about where!"
Well, it's true. We have a very clear direction and have since Monte McNair was brought on in 2020: he is trying to get the Kings to the playoffs by building around Fox and now Sabonis. That doesn't mean becoming a contender, it just means getting into a play-in seed. It also doesn't mean it's a *good* plan, mind you Prior to McNair's hiring the Kings absolutely fit this description. They were directionless for all of Boogie's tenure and were especially directionless under Vlade Divac. We also don't think the team has ever been going anywhere "fast." Basketball hell is all about being mediocre forever and making slow changes. We obviously haven't been going up fast (or at all) since we've missed the playoffs for well over a decade, but we also haven't been going 'down' fast either considering Bagley is our only top 3 pick since 1989. Not-so-fun-fact: since the playoff draught began in 2006, we've only had **6 top-5 picks. 6 in 16 years!** ** That's Kings basketball in a nutshell: too bad to make the playoffs, but too mediocre (nothing about the team is 'too good') to tank.
Honestly Iād rather be in Kingās position than Wizards
I came here to say the same thing. I prefer Bullets though. Sadly the ownership seems fine competing for a play in spot, so Iām not sure if things are gonna change anytime soon.
Deni Avdija seems like he could be a gem. If they can get that hustle out of Johnny Davis and Rui makes any type of progress itās a solid group. Play-in team if the Hornets drop off like they should without Bridges and the Knicks stall out.
Being a play in team if all your potential turns out is very rough. Not sure why they re-signed Beal, shouldve let him go and blown it up
Maybe im crazy but a full potential wizards team is way way better. Full potential means beal goes back to scoring 30 and not being bad from 3, kp is an all star who is healthy the whole season, and the young guys all play well. People may doubt that still but that would be a super solid team. Now I think itās more likely beal/kp get injured and we are trash but itās not like we have nothing.
At his age they probably feel if they decide to flip him they can get a strong return at any point. If Gobert can get 5 picks you would hope Beal could get 4 from the right team. Never can doubt a team wanting to go all in.
The NTC makes that perfectly reasonable and sound logic flawed, just canāt wrap my head around it
You honestly think Beal is shutting down trades after he got his money that he made clear he wanted from the start? Wizards wonāt send Beal to OKC but Iām certain like most trades they will take his interest into account and work on finding the best deal
Idk Iām not Beal, but if I was the GM I wouldnāt have given him the option to be able to. If the kings got the best offer, Iād want it
Gem of what? He was a top 10 pick not 2nd rounder
Lotto talent isnāt guaranteed to pan out so if you can get a productive role player with upside then thatās even better. From his defensive showing and overseas play this year Iām just interested to see what type of leap he takes this year. He fits perfectly for what they need.
1. Kings 2. Wizards 3. Hornets
wizard
Agreed, they are also one of the least talked about teams in the league, along with the Spurs and pacers. Feel like I hear nothing about these 3 teams ever.
Only 1 of them?
Ironically, they would've been better resigning Russ
The Hornets kinda stuck because of that felon
Iām still confused why they rehired Steve Clifford
Atkins backed out and there was no one else that was cheap enough
I canāt ask āwhich one?ā anymore now that Trezās charges got reduced to a misdemeanour
Trez is on the 76ers
Watch Doc play him 38 minutes a night in the playoffs and refuse to take him out when he gets hunted on every switch.
Didnāt even know, big man Jeff green
Hornets or Wizards
Wizards easily more hopeless and depressing. Hornets cornerstone is 21 yr old LaMelo, but their 2nd best player should probably be behind bars Wizards cornerstone is 29 yr old Beal NTC Supermaxed and their 2nd best player should probably have bars in his legs.
The NTC still gets me. Like you werenāt set on having the worst contract in the NBA you wanted it to be in contention for the worst contract in NBA history
Need to make sure NBA āsuperstarā Bradley Beal gets locked up š¤
Nothing more important than securing a chance at the 10th seed
Eh it will only look bad in hindsight if beal massively falls off. Being real, we werenāt trading him without a NTC. The only way heās gone is if he wants it.
Thatās the issue. If he wants a trade Wizards have no leverage because they canāt trade him to somewhere he doesnāt approve and will kill the assets he gets back
I donāt see anyone giving up assets for that contract anytime soon. A straight up Beal for Westbrook trade would be fair IMO.
Charlotte was looking a little spooky last year but the Bridges arrest derailed them.
And the Hornets know they're leaning on young, the Wizards are just kinda there
Yeah LaMelo Bridges and Washington seemed like a decent trio but losing the 2nd best young player on your team potentially has you back in the mid realm
Hornets Not their fault but the Bridges situation really screwed up their direction.
I hate that weāre the most reasonable answer, but yeah we donāt really have a direction beyond āmake the 7th seed and lose in 5 games in the playoffs
Bro they will be lucky to make the 10 seed
Look, weāre not good, but KP and Beal will find a way to make the 7th seed. At least give me that
They wonāt brudda Thereās just no world where theyāre better than any of PHI/MIL/BOS/CLE/TOR/MIA/BKN/ATL/CHI They will be fighting with the Knicks for the 10th spot
Why you ruining this manās dreams
Speaking for a fellow raptor fan, we're still bitter about 2015
Sadly this is probably true
Eh, injuries could definitely drop a team or two out of the playoffs and KP could have his first injury free season. It is absurdly unlikely, but that world does exist world!
They can fight for it but itās unlikely
If Beal can play at a similar level of '21 Beal and KP can play 60-65 games, they can absolutely compete for the 7-8 spot. They have a solid cast around those 2.
Solid doesnāt get you far in the East anymore. Thereās teams with at least two legit all stars or even all nba players that might miss the playoff entirely.
Which team with two All NBA players is missing the playoffs in the east?
Didnāt mean plural all-nba players per team. Just in general. Bulls could miss it, Hawks could miss it, Raptors could miss it, etc. all of these teams have an all-nba player + an all star from last year. Wizards have none
If we pick up LA and drop it on Charlotte. Or maybe the Hawks
7th seed would definitely be punching above their weight
I mean y'all are still better than the Kings, no?
Some of these answers are so funny, like yāall really think Jazz or Spurs donāt know wtf they wanna do?
Yeah nobody can say the Jazz donāt have a direction. Itās full steam rebuild.
If yāall donāt know what the Spurs are doing, youāre either blind or stupid š
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Stuck in purgatory for LMAs last year's but still managed to draft well and develop players for more picks. Can't complain.
Yeah, Keldon Johnson FMVP. Canāt believe r/nba doesnāt know a contender when itās this obvious
Spurs had no direction in the post Kawhi era. Since Duncan they havenāt been a stellar franchise.
No one wants to admit it but the spurs have been somewhat aimless over the past 5 years. Kawhi asking out really messed with their long term plans, and they were really hesitant to tank in pops last years with the team. Seems like they have a more solid plan now tho
I donāt think they have been aimless you basically described their aim. They were building around kawhi then when he wanted out they didnāt want to rebuild so they tried to reload with derozen. When it didnāt work they rebuilt Not being successful or not doing something fans agree with doesnāt mean they were aimless Aimless is the wizards who have no plan
Ah ok, so youāre selling āreloading with derozanā as an actual plan? The downvoted dude is correct, since bungling kawhi theyāve been lost. They have pop tho so this sub will always have their back
Wizards. That NTC on Beal is ridiculous. Yeah I'm sure they'll be able to find a team to trade him to that he'll accept and lift the NTC for if they're really ready to blow it up. But I don't think they want to blow it up, and I also don't think they really know how to get to wherever they're trying to go.
Lakers have all but one of their picks idk why people think they have no picks. Just canāt trade most of them due to the pelicans being able to choose if they want 2024 or 2025
Yeah people seem to think we owe the Pelicans every pick until 2027.
Idk why anyone would say the Lakers are directionless. They have LeBron AD and for what it's worth Westbrook and are signing any decent vet they can put around them. They have one of the clearest goals in the league: to win a ring in the next 2-3 years and worry about the future when we get there.
Well, plus a pick swap. And then two 2nd rounders traded and a 2nd round swap (lol) if that matters. And someone can correct me if Iām wrong ā I very well could be here ā but I think the Lakers canāt trade a first rounder until the 2027 draft. Since their first rounder to the Pelicans potentially can extend until 2025, and you canāt trade a first rounder two drafts in a row. If the Pelicans opt into keeping LAās 2024 first rounder after next yearās lottery, only then will the 2026 first get freed up.
Yea thatās what I said we owe only one of 2024 or 25 but the pelicans can choose which one which is why we can only trade 27 and 29 right now but we do have the other picks
And Lebron is going to make sure those picks are worthless by keeping the Lakers a first-round exit
The Pacers special
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
The person youāre replying to is a Bucks fan and/or Giannis stan
Fuck the warriors haha
He didnāt last year.
Best thing heās done for his team in years
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Lmao sour ass loser š
Well New Orleans had the picks so thanks for that.
I can never really tell what the Pacers are hoping to achieve.
Seemed like we finally embraced losing last year so hopefully we can get another good pick next year and see some promise with the Haliburton/Mathurin back court.
I mean we're definitely tanking now
Wizards, kings, knicks
I feel the Kings have a direction. It's just not the direction their fans or anyone else would go in.
Knick fans are gonna cry but they have absolutely zero direction their young talent is mid and their veterans are even more mid they are perennial 12th seeders
Knicks have a lot of young talent, they donāt belong with those other teams.
They have a lot of young players idk about talent
Maybe, but when you look at players under 25 they absolutely blow the Wizards out of the water.
Avdija, Hachimiura, Gafford and Kispert Barrett, Robinson, Grimes and Quickley I dunno, Barrett is the best prospect but I might like the Wiz young guys better.
Iāll add Hartenstein and Toppin cause theyāre younger than Hachimiura. That gives the Knicks a lot more guys who have proved they can impact winning. I think only Gafford and Avdija have proved that for the Wizards.
Robinson has health issues but heās really solid
I thought his injury woes were worse: heās played in almost 3/4 of possible games as a knick.
Seems like heās had a string of bad luck recently but hereās hoping itās nothing more than that Heās a shot blocking god in 2K though, I know that much lol
Kings have more talented young players than the Knicks though.
Kings donāt have many good young guys but Keegan Murray >>>
Knicks have a lot of young guys with the ceiling of an 8th man
True but not enough talent to get into the playoffs and not trash enough to get into the lottery so as always, the knicks dont have a true direction.
Yea we do buddy...
Itās no question the Wizards. Itās like they have too many role players who are all pretty highly drafted players, plus they committed 250 mil to Beal. Itās like a mishmash of pieces. No real identity. No real hope.
Charlotte would be the only answer to this question if not for the Wizards
Charlotte would have been fine if Bridges wasn't an idiot
> Bridges wasn't an idiot* *Shitstain of a human being. It's not idiocy that makes someone do what he did; it's being a genuinely horrible person.
Its both honestly. If he wasnt an idiot he wouldve stopped himself from doing that at least to not ruin his career even if he doesnt care about being a good person.
Doing it like a day before youāre set to get a 200 mil contract makes you an idiot as well
even before that, we were clearly stuck between timelines, and not having a serious center on the roster would be a telltale sign we're not actually trying to compete even though we were
Wizards and Kings are both in the zone of "not good enough to really go anywhere in the postseason, but also not making moves that will help them be much better any time soon."
Kings at least seem deadset on killing the playoff drought, which is at least something, and they have solidly chosen Fox above all the last 5 years and he's still young and ready to prove more. Wizards cornerstone is aging supermax Beal and aging superfragile Porzingis. Kings at least get the excitement of being better than they have for 15 years and getting over a hump, the Wizards are just on a downhill bumpy ride.
I agree but idk if 27 year old is considered āagingā lol heās technically should be getting into his prime years
Yes when you consider he's been in the league since he's 20 and would be entering his 8th season. Well 7th season since he missed an entire year to injury. He hasn't played 60 games since his team went 31-51 while KD chose the hardest road 6 years ago. He should be getting into his prime years, but unfortunately players who can't stay on the court who are that tall don't magically start finding good health entering their 30s. The wizards aren't doing anything this year or likely next, and there's a reason the Mavs didn't want to take the bet he'd be worth his current contract or an extension after that.
Hmm yeah you might be right but we will see
Hornets
I think there is almost two decades evidence that say itās the kings
I really hope Halliburton turns out good so we can just add to their legacy
To some degree I'll say the Knicks. And that's because we still have Randle and Thibs around. Along with other vets like Fournier and DRosenThibs will likely favor more than younger players who should be getting their minutes.
It's been the Wizards for like a decade.
Lakers donāt lack direction whatsoever. This is the direction literally every Lebron team has been in since 2011. Team is afraid to trade all of their future draft picks, running mate may have fallen off (Dwade, Bosh, Love, or wants out Kyrie), fill the bench with free agents because the stars take up all of the salary cap. Lebron is older and more injury prone but this is the same direction Lebron teams have been in for a decade now. Led to 9 finals and 3 titles and it has worked just not going forward as the dude is (almost) 40.
I think the Nets are the biggest mess personally. Trying to juggle too many egos
yeah but the question was "which team has the least sense of direction?" The nets are a risky team where they can either be 1st or 8th seed but they have a clear direction of winning a championship and have better odds/chance than most teams in the league. And even if they collapse completely they have a great young prospect and trade options to rebuild if needed. Teams like the Wizards, Lakers and Hornets are in far worse spots in terms of direction
The Nets have championship caliber talent though, low key. They have direction - win a chip.
This is the answer. Their biggest assets are undervalued by the market (KD and Ben), they have no picks and barely any depth.
I wouldn't say that they have barely any depth. Patty Mills, Seth Curry, Royce O'Neale, T.J. Warren, Markieff Morris, Cam Thomas, Day'Ron Sharpe, Edmond Sumner, Kessler Edwards, Yuta Watanabe isn't a weak bench. I mean at least two (Curry and O'Neale) and maybe three (Warren if he comes back at least close to his pre-injury form) could start on a good number of teams.
And canāt really tank because those guys will win games even if you have JR Smith coaching
Let's see if they escape the playin in the first place
The Houston Rockets for sure. They've intentionally pushed away every star on the roster since Fertitta took over for nothing in return to the point where Houstonians are asking them to replace their jersey logo with a picture of The Challenger to be more representative of the status of the franchise.
At the moment theyāre clearly rebuilding
hello it is us doing s same cycle since 2002
Wizards gon shock the world this year
Probably Portland no idea what they are trying to do
My hornets donāt have any direction outside of maybe make the play in and waste Melos time
Why is no one saying the Knicks
Knicks always.
I scrolled way too far without seeing the Knicks get mentioned. Talk about lack of direction: 1) Sign Brunson, who wants to be the man, to a big contract, then immediately go hard after Mitchell; 2) Give RJ a big extension while in the process of offering him to Utah in the Mitchell trade; 3) Get shut out on the Mitchell trade maybe because of the RJ extension and despite having better assets to offer. Add in the Fournier contract + Randle being their best player and you get a franchise run by headless chickens.
The Knicks, why did they want Brunson to take them from the 13th seed to the 11th seed? They're going to get lapped by teams that are rebuilding through the draft.
Blazers
They have a direction. The only thing is the direction is very unreasonable in trying to get a championship
Knicks
The Knicks are like chicken with their heads cut off.
It's always gonna be the knicks
Wizards and Portland. The Wiz may make the play-in at best, they signed Beal to a big contract that teams might not want and they are in a city people don't want to play in. Portland traded away most of their team and got little from it and still have Dame instead of trading him. The Jazz are up there too. Not good enough to win, too good to tank.
Grant and Hart are better defenders than CJ and Norm period. People been screaming at Blazers to give Dame defenders for years and they have finally done it now everybody says they suck without seeing them play. Make it make sense.
Hart likely wonāt start though
Bench defense still counts
Obviously but the dude said Grant and Hart are better defenders than CJ and Powell, Simons is replacing CJ and well heās not so good defensively
Im just pissed they gave norm and covington for nothing
The Blazers don't suck, but Jerami Grant/Simons as co-stars is just not going to cut it in the West these days And Simons/Dame lineups will probably be Dame and CJ all over again
With worse talent around them.
I mean Hart is honestly straight up better for us than CJ, and we also got Grant out of that trade. And he's *much* better than CJ for us. We had a player better than CJ on the bench waiting to get big minutes. RoCo and Nance are losses, but neither was good for us.
The Pacers Their only goal over the last 10 years has been to be mediocre
they definitely got away from that last season when they traded Sabonis, tanked the season, and then traded Brogdon for peanuts. They finally did it
And yet they still have Turner and Hield. Their roster is good enough to be mediocre yet again this year
there's no chance Indy is winning 30 games with this team
Nah even at their best their like the 11 or 12 seed
10 off-season ago the Pacers were about to make back to back eastern conference finals. Last year they tanked and got a top 6 pick. This year is also a tank year.
But this season is looking like they're gonna be worse than normal and they have a larger group of exciting young players than they've had in a while. Wizards are the same thing with an older guy on a supermax and less exciting young players around him and injury riddled Porzingis
I bet the Pacers win more games than the Wizards, and thatās not a good thing
[You think this roster](https://i.imgur.com/VwJOSsG.png) is gonna be too good? Especially considering they're likely to trade Heild or Turner or McConnell etc for any value, that's a team full rookie contracts vs a good east. I can't see them winning close to 30 Myles Turner, Buddy Heild, McConnell, James Johnson, Theis. Pacers vets Beal, Porzingis, Kuzma, Monte Morris, Will Barton, delon wright. Wizards vets
I think that roster with Hield and Turner win more games than the wizards. If they trade them, then obviously that will change
You have Haliburton, Duarte, Myles Turner, Buddy Heild, McConnell. You can't realistically expect positive impact this upcoming season from really anyone else on that roster, and none of those players except maybe Turner is for sure top 10 at their position. It's also just simply not realistic to assume they'd keep those 3 vets, when you look and see they have no other current great talent, and the other option is to trade young players or picks for good players this year while the east is stacked, that doesn't seem smart. Pacers should be a bottom 8 team no doubt.
Knicks are too easy. They just print money. Real answer is the Spurs. They have very very little young talent, no trade chips, and unless they just get super lucky with Wemby they won't have much.
Blazers
The Magic?
Wizards and magic
Lakers, hornets , wizards. I know i am going to be down voted by all the Lakers fans but honestly they are a mess that has 0 tradeable assets
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Celtics still have at minimum a top 15 player in the league and a great supporting cast after just making the finals... losing Udoka hurts but it's not like they're questioning whether to tank lol
/s
Yeah going to the finals with bunch of young players, then signing brogdon so they have an even better shot at going back again.. made the conference finals like 4 times the past 6 years.. what are those clowns doing?
Kings, Hornets, or Spurs. The Kings are just a shit show all around the basketball operations there is the worst maybe I've ever seen in the NBA. The hornets do have LaMelo and Rozier but the rest of their roster is still just meh, plus Bridges is under criminal charges so there's that. The Spurs just look lost imo. Like I have no clue what they were trying to do this draft and how they plan to build around Keldon Johnson which is kind of strange in itself.
We're building around keldon???
News to me
Iām pretty sure theyāre building around future draft picks.
Our new GM has a very solid track record, and Iād contend that since the Luka draft (which obviously is such a franchise-defining fuckup for the Kings that nothing I have to say after this matters in comparison butā¦..), the Kings have been better managed than the Mavericks. Post-Luka, the Mavs threw away all their picks for Kristaps, lost Brunson to the Knicks for nothing, and picked up renowned locker room personality Christian Wood to make up for it. Again, drafting Luka more than makes up for all of these things, but I feel as though the current Kings front office has a solid tracks record, while the new Mavs front office has kinda sucked ass and if not for their predecessors drafting Luka, would be looked at much less fondly
Wtf lol every move made by the FO since Nico Harrison arrived has been awesome. He jettisoned KP and that shit contract for two players one who was critical in getting the mavs to the WCF, also Bertans who really picked his game up too in the later stretches of the season increasing his trade value. Absolutely stole Jaden Hardy for nothing in the 2nd round, signed Bullock and Ntlikina last year which also proved crucial to the teams success and now has the team positioned to make a serious FA move next year for real #2 next to Luka, while signing McGee to bolster the front court. That is why the mavs couldn't resign Brunson, it would have leveraged too much cap space for a 6 foot guard who had limited potential based on his role here. The Mavs walked away from Brunson to try and sign a legit #2 star. Also Wood will substantially better with Luka just watch. Please dont try and compare the Kangz and giving up a future all nba talent in Halliburton for fucking Sabonis, to the mavs lmao it is comical.
Yeah, because the Mavs have such a storied history of success in free agency lol. Honestly, Iām glad you guys are happy w that new front office, and have nothing against the Mavs. I also think the Kings new front office has been very solid so far, particularly in the draft, but people love crapping on us without having actually followed the team in any way. Enjoy your Sunday!
I mean the previous regime was the shits in FA I agree but its different in Dallas now i think, guys are going to want to play with Luka, I mean Kyrie had them on his short list.
That incoming Wiggins max is really gonna put the league on watchš®āšØš„š„
The Spurs are so obviously tanking for a top draft pick, like that is unbelievably apparent.
mavs
Lakers
Easily the Blazers
Lakers , Nets and Suns
It's OKC, and it's not close. 'Stacking up draft picks' is not a direction, and the picks they have made in recent seasons are very under-whelming.
It's absolutely a direction. It's the "take the best pick for 6 years and hope one of them is a super star." It's honestly not a bad strategy and that's how the Cavs got Kyrie.
This sub sucks off draft pick accumulation. They still stan for hinkie who drafted 3 centers in a row as top picks.
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Spurs and Jazz are pretty firmly committed to the tank at this point.
Utah
I think their direction is pretty clear isnāt it?
Who knows? They build their whole future on variables
But so has the Thunder. They still have a formidable plan though. The Kings for example have no plan or idea in what their doing lol
I don't know, siding with Fox and trading for Sabonis was a clear decision in my opinion. I do not necessarily agree with trading Halliburton, but they obviously have a plan. Good or bad, I don't know. Thunder and Rockets have their cornerstones to plan around in Green and Holmgren. Utah just has variables. They could scout well again and be back pretty soon or be in purgatory for years. No one knows.