You don't need the #1 pick though. You need to be making damn sure you ain't picking 8th or 9th. People get reductive when they misunderstand the #1 overall sweepstakes - if you're picking 2-4 in this draft you're still looking at Harper, Ace, and VJ. Outside of that? GLI mean it's still a lottery, and it's about 4 teams that will surely already be the worst. And 3 of them have the same chance of getting the #1. While one has a bit less of a probability.
So what I'm saying is, is it worth it to risk it by visibly tanking to a point where you might even get hit with some type of punishment, like Utah Jazz and now NO obviously are doing?
I hope shyt is like last year where ATL got the #1 with the smallest probability
Tanking defeats the purpose of having a ranked draft system and is anti-competition, disgusting behavior actually
Imagine if Utah actually tanked the past two years instead of playing hard for nothing with no premier talent to even try and build around. They won 31 games last year and 37 before that. Who'd they draft in the lottery? Taylor Hendricks and Cody Williams. They weren't even in position to choose between the Thompson twins or Clingan/Stephon Castle. Its no wonder they're throwing lobs into the bleachers to close out games this season...
Once you slide out that top talent category, you're just swinging for the fences and stacking up developmental guys that are only worth paying if their contracts will be tradeable.
