Race to the Bottom thread
- Thread starter iowamcnabb
- Start date
The most successful example of this in recent history was Boston trading the #1 pick to Philadelphia in 2017 so they could pick Jayson Tatum at #3. The Sixers took Markelle Fultz with that #1 pick and he turned out to be one of the biggest first overall pick busts in league history. The Lakers took Lonzo Ball at #2 who was at least a pretty solid starter until that never-ending string of injuries ruined his career. Point being -- it's not the worst idea to trade down a couple spots if you know who the other teams are going to pick and the guy you want will still be there on the board. But it's risky considering you will be forever blamed if it doesn't work out (Atlanta trading down two spots to take Trae Young at #5 instead of drafting Luka at #3 in 2018, for example).
Both teams should just shoot full court shots the entire time. First ever 3-0 win
Tetsujin
The Game Thread Dude
The game would take like fifteen hours because they’d be taking shots with 23 seconds left on the clock and the poor ball boys would have to keep running into the stands to get the ball. I’m down.
Kingster
Hall of Famer
I like that Lauri is out for "rest" reasons. I thought the NBA banned load management, also know as rest.
If 4 players go 1-5 are guaranteed superstars with 1 megastar and the fifth is a bust who will be picked in the top 3, I want to pick 4th.
If 4 players go 1-5 are guaranteed superstars with 1 megastar and the fifth is a bust who will be picked in the top 3, I want to pick 4th.
Other than Lebron James, I don't think there has been a guaranteed superstar in any draft this century. And I don't see one in this draft either -- though quite a few of these guys do look really good.
Heck, look at how the 2019 draft has turned out:
Of the top ten picks that year, seven of them were either just traded at the deadline this year or were on the trade block. And of the remaining three players, two of them are out of the league already. There was quite a bit of hype about those top players too. You just never know.
Insomniacal Fan
Starter
You wouldn't put Wemby in that bucket?, Popovich tried to put off retirement to get the chance to coach him.
I think I'd have tagged Durant as a guaranteed superstar in 2007, but perhaps he's a tier below.
If Durant was guaranteed I think he'd have gone over Oden. Wemby had to be though?
I was thinking of this draft even though Ayton has been a bit of a bust too. Ayton, Bagley, Luka/Trae, JJJ. We got the worst of the next 3 picks and the biggest bust of the top 5. People were also quite high on Bamba.
King-Da-Yah
Starter
Cant believe they are gonna pull this out they were up 3 with 12 seconds left
Just out of curiosity, what players do you consider to have been guaranteed superstars? If LeBron is the only one this century, then does anybody other than Shaq in my lifetime qualify? Remember, Jordan went 3rd overall, if he was a guaranteed superstar certainly he would have gone second if not first (and then, only if Olajuwon also counts as a guaranteed superstar).
What about injuries? Obviously if LeBron got hurt early in his career he might never have reached his level. So what about Oden? Or Yao? Or for that matter, Zion?
For what it's worth, it's hard to look at one draft (say the 2019 draft you reference) in hindsight and another draft that hasn't happened yet and compare them reasonably, but of the top ten in 2019, I can't say I was that high on the top ten. I liked all three Duke players (Barrett and Reddish would probably have been #2 and #3 for me), kinda liked White, cautiously liked Rui (I recognized that he was a 4, while everybody who was really pooh-poohing him in the mocks was miscasting him as a 3), disliked Hunter and Culver as high lotto prospects, didn't have a great feel for either Morant or Garland, was skeptical of Hayes but at least liked the size there.
But trying to get my thoughts now and my thoughts then in sync, I'd have taken all of the top four in this draft over Barrett at #2 in a combined draft. Might be able to convince myself on Wagler, too, but probably not Flemings (with hindsight I take both of those guys over R.J., just saying at the time I liked him more than I like Flemings now).
Too soon to say with Wemby. Right now it looks like he might struggle to stay healthy, which is often the case for players his size. He only played 46 games last season and he's on pace to play about 60 this season. I didn't mention it because it's already been beat to death here, but Luka came the closest for me to being a sure-thing prospect since Lebron. But he also had a lot of doubters and was taken 3rd overall.
Insomniacal Fan
Starter
I don't think anybody had any cause to question that Oden himself was a guaranteed superstar; 2007 was still in the golden age of big men, and he hadn't had any surgeries until after the draft.
Durant was the most impressive college player I've ever seen.
I can say for sure that they polled the fans in Portland and Oden won. So this one is tricky. They both seemed can't miss. And when Oden played with Roy and LMA they were fantastic. But I still wonder how we decide "guaranteed".
To me, Shaq, Duncan, LeBron and Wemby are in a class of their own.
I think players that I was fortunate enough to see play in their primes live but not really aware of before the NBA or they established themselves, Magic, Bird, Ewing, Hakeem probably get this honor as well.
Pacers managed to win in OT.
Their best player, JJJ, still looks up