The only way you can assert this, which you have done so repeatedly. is if you know how good (or not so good) Fox, Giles, Skal, Mason, Buddy, Jackson and others will be individually and collectively in 2-3 years . You don't know this (and neither do I), so you can't assert this. We may already have a franchise player on the roster (I think we may have one in De'Aaron Fox). Or we may not even have enough talent to qualify for the 8th seed. Therefore to say our ceiling is the 8th seed barring a Top 5 or Top 3 pick in 2018 requires you being a soothsayer or time traveller. Since there is no such thing, your assertion has no merit.