Post by MistleTacoe on Nov 18, 2016 12:11:07 GMT -6
Hello all! This is a very important year for tanking teams so I wanted to put together a list of the bottom 8 teams and their chances at landing LeBron/Melo/D-Wade. This draft class should have an impact for seasons and seasons to come….or until 5.0 starts up. Personally, I hope they all bust because I am finally coming out of my tank. Whatever. I have ranked the teams from worst chance to best chance based on their number of picks and talent on their team. I am hoping to do a retrospective on this article once the year concludes to see how correct or incorrect I was. Enough rambling….here we go!
Note: This article was written during the 3041 draft. There will be some inaccuracies due to the nature of random rookies killin’ it. I will have some guesses regarding Free Agency but I assume the tanking teams will try their hardest to sign shit players rather than having to hold onto a great player (Ewing) for 90 days. Remember: LeBron > Bounty for Ewing.
Odds
Milwaukee Bucks - Trofie
Important players:
Rashard Lewis
Danny Granger
Lou Williams
Important picks:
Bucks ’42
Analysis:
Trofie’s situation is much like the Atlanta Hawks except he has better PG. His odds of being absolutely horrible aren’t great but he’s got some quality shit to make his team be towards the bottom. I trust Trofie as a GM to set everything up to fail as best as possible. Does he land a top 5 pick in the draft? It’s unlikely. Does he get in the mix with some ping pong balls? Absolutely.
Odds for the top pick: <5%
Atlanta Hawks - General Sherman
Important players:
Paul Pierce
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Raymond Felton
Important picks:
Hawks ’42
Bobcats ’42
Analysis:
The Hawks are in a very interesting situation. Look at their line-up before TC. All of their players have A potential. They have some quality pieces + the unknown of TC, which would make you think they could be good. With that having been said, they have an Austin Rivers clone at PG in Raymond Felton. Austin Rivers lead the Warriors to the 3rd worst record in the league last year. If Sherman plays his cards right and surrounds his good pieces with hot poop, he shouldn’t win too many games this year. With that having been said, the Bobcats pick should not come into play.
Odds for the top pick: <5%
Orlando Magic - MJ
Important players:
Chris Paul
Willis Reed
Drayman Green
Important picks:
Magic ’42
Analysis:
MJ has a bad team but a good PG and that can ruin some tanking seasons. CP3 has the skills to win MJ a couple games that he absolutely shouldn’t win. This is also a team where I highlighted shitty players as important because they will help the tank. If MJ is smart, he will surround Chris Paul with kryptonite like players to make sure he team really sucks.
Odds for the top pick: ~5%
Better Odds
Vancouver Grizzlies - Andrewluck
Important players:
Tom Gugliotta
Rodney White
Important picks:
Grizzlies ’42
Analysis:
The Grizzlies are a blank slate right now with only two decent players. Okay maybe Larry Hughes turns into something worthwhile but I have my reservations. Rodney White is a hell of a player but AndrewLuck should sign a dumpster fire at PG to ruin the team. He doesn’t have a lot of young talent on his team but LeBron (or anyone in the top 3) would change that around very quickly. I like his chances but his one good player and lack of other draft picks make me skeptical that his chances are too high.
Odds for the top pick: ~10%
Kansas City Kings - 2poor
Important players:
Billy Hoyle
Important picks:
Kings ’42
Analysis:
2poor’s best player is a non-dominant SG. Woof. My gut says that he slides into the 2nd worse record in the league assuming he makes some good FA signings to make his team even worse. 2poor doesn’t have a plethora of picks to increase his odds but he does own his own and that’s what matters here. Bad team + your pick = success.
Odds for the top pick: ~15%
Minnesota Timberwolves - Ayyoe
Important players:
John Long
Khris Middleton
Important picks:
T-Wolves ’42
Pacers ’42
Bullets ’42
Thunder ’42
Analysis:
I think the Timberwolves were the hardest team to rank. They have a couple decent players and 1 stud; however, they have no PG (they can sign some poop) and they have a bunch of picks. First and foremost, I see them landing somewhere in the bottom 5-6 in terms of overall record. That’ll make their pick incredibly important. The wildcard here is how bad are the Pacers going to be this year? That Pacers team has a couple pieces but is NOT ready to compete in any way, shape, or form. The Thunder and Bullets picks should not come into play.
Odds for the top pick: ~15%
Chicago Bulls - Lip
Important players:
George Mikan
Kevin Loughery
Important picks:
Bulls ’42
Raptors ’42
Rockets ’42
Analysis:
Lip walked into a situation where his team wasn’t working out and he saw the light. The light being the 3042 draft class of course. Overall, the team is atrocious as it sits today. It’s not as bad as the team with the best odds, but its really bad. If Kevin Loughery turns out to be decent (and starts), he could win a couple games for the Bulls but thats hard to believe. If I were Lip, I would sign a really shitty starting PG in FA and ride that horse to a bottom 3 record. The extra picks are interesting ones. Both the Rockets and Raptors have good players and could have good teams. Their respective drafts and FA signings will have a big impact on how good or bad they will be. At the end of the day, I expect them to be in the playoffs but stranger things have happened.
Odds for the top pick: ~15%
Best Odds
Philadelphia 76ers - Fason
Important players:
John Havlicek
Important picks:
Sixers ’42
Hornets ’42
Suns ‘42
Analysis:
Fason has a horrible team right now. He has the cap space to sign horrible players to compliment his horrible team. The only possibility the 76ers don’t get the #1 odds is if Hondo steals him a couple games and I just don’t see it happening. In addition, Fason also has the Hornets ’42 pick, which looks to be a very good one. There will be a lot of teams tanking but I expect the Hornets to have a top 10-12 pick as well. The Suns ’42 pick shouldn’t come into play. Either way, Fason looks to the leader in the clubhouse to land LeBron unless the ping pong balls don’t fall his way.
Odds for the top pick: ~30%
Note: This article was written during the 3041 draft. There will be some inaccuracies due to the nature of random rookies killin’ it. I will have some guesses regarding Free Agency but I assume the tanking teams will try their hardest to sign shit players rather than having to hold onto a great player (Ewing) for 90 days. Remember: LeBron > Bounty for Ewing.
Odds
Milwaukee Bucks - Trofie
Important players:
Rashard Lewis
Danny Granger
Lou Williams
Important picks:
Bucks ’42
Analysis:
Trofie’s situation is much like the Atlanta Hawks except he has better PG. His odds of being absolutely horrible aren’t great but he’s got some quality shit to make his team be towards the bottom. I trust Trofie as a GM to set everything up to fail as best as possible. Does he land a top 5 pick in the draft? It’s unlikely. Does he get in the mix with some ping pong balls? Absolutely.
Odds for the top pick: <5%
Atlanta Hawks - General Sherman
Important players:
Paul Pierce
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Raymond Felton
Important picks:
Hawks ’42
Bobcats ’42
Analysis:
The Hawks are in a very interesting situation. Look at their line-up before TC. All of their players have A potential. They have some quality pieces + the unknown of TC, which would make you think they could be good. With that having been said, they have an Austin Rivers clone at PG in Raymond Felton. Austin Rivers lead the Warriors to the 3rd worst record in the league last year. If Sherman plays his cards right and surrounds his good pieces with hot poop, he shouldn’t win too many games this year. With that having been said, the Bobcats pick should not come into play.
Odds for the top pick: <5%
Orlando Magic - MJ
Important players:
Chris Paul
Willis Reed
Drayman Green
Important picks:
Magic ’42
Analysis:
MJ has a bad team but a good PG and that can ruin some tanking seasons. CP3 has the skills to win MJ a couple games that he absolutely shouldn’t win. This is also a team where I highlighted shitty players as important because they will help the tank. If MJ is smart, he will surround Chris Paul with kryptonite like players to make sure he team really sucks.
Odds for the top pick: ~5%
Better Odds
Vancouver Grizzlies - Andrewluck
Important players:
Tom Gugliotta
Rodney White
Important picks:
Grizzlies ’42
Analysis:
The Grizzlies are a blank slate right now with only two decent players. Okay maybe Larry Hughes turns into something worthwhile but I have my reservations. Rodney White is a hell of a player but AndrewLuck should sign a dumpster fire at PG to ruin the team. He doesn’t have a lot of young talent on his team but LeBron (or anyone in the top 3) would change that around very quickly. I like his chances but his one good player and lack of other draft picks make me skeptical that his chances are too high.
Odds for the top pick: ~10%
Kansas City Kings - 2poor
Important players:
Billy Hoyle
Important picks:
Kings ’42
Analysis:
2poor’s best player is a non-dominant SG. Woof. My gut says that he slides into the 2nd worse record in the league assuming he makes some good FA signings to make his team even worse. 2poor doesn’t have a plethora of picks to increase his odds but he does own his own and that’s what matters here. Bad team + your pick = success.
Odds for the top pick: ~15%
Minnesota Timberwolves - Ayyoe
Important players:
John Long
Khris Middleton
Important picks:
T-Wolves ’42
Pacers ’42
Bullets ’42
Thunder ’42
Analysis:
I think the Timberwolves were the hardest team to rank. They have a couple decent players and 1 stud; however, they have no PG (they can sign some poop) and they have a bunch of picks. First and foremost, I see them landing somewhere in the bottom 5-6 in terms of overall record. That’ll make their pick incredibly important. The wildcard here is how bad are the Pacers going to be this year? That Pacers team has a couple pieces but is NOT ready to compete in any way, shape, or form. The Thunder and Bullets picks should not come into play.
Odds for the top pick: ~15%
Chicago Bulls - Lip
Important players:
George Mikan
Kevin Loughery
Important picks:
Bulls ’42
Raptors ’42
Rockets ’42
Analysis:
Lip walked into a situation where his team wasn’t working out and he saw the light. The light being the 3042 draft class of course. Overall, the team is atrocious as it sits today. It’s not as bad as the team with the best odds, but its really bad. If Kevin Loughery turns out to be decent (and starts), he could win a couple games for the Bulls but thats hard to believe. If I were Lip, I would sign a really shitty starting PG in FA and ride that horse to a bottom 3 record. The extra picks are interesting ones. Both the Rockets and Raptors have good players and could have good teams. Their respective drafts and FA signings will have a big impact on how good or bad they will be. At the end of the day, I expect them to be in the playoffs but stranger things have happened.
Odds for the top pick: ~15%
Best Odds
Philadelphia 76ers - Fason
Important players:
John Havlicek
Important picks:
Sixers ’42
Hornets ’42
Suns ‘42
Analysis:
Fason has a horrible team right now. He has the cap space to sign horrible players to compliment his horrible team. The only possibility the 76ers don’t get the #1 odds is if Hondo steals him a couple games and I just don’t see it happening. In addition, Fason also has the Hornets ’42 pick, which looks to be a very good one. There will be a lot of teams tanking but I expect the Hornets to have a top 10-12 pick as well. The Suns ’42 pick shouldn’t come into play. Either way, Fason looks to the leader in the clubhouse to land LeBron unless the ping pong balls don’t fall his way.
Odds for the top pick: ~30%
