Trail Blazers @ Suns game thread 2-24-18

[AzStevenCal]

Agreed, Bledsoe's value dropped after he made it clear he wanted out and the Suns still received a first round pick.

I think in the off season the Suns could have received more... I'm not sure what.

Sure but that was expected to be a pretty low value first rounder at the time of the deal. I don't think anyone really expected Milwaukee to collapse as they have.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think last season just before trade deadline his value was at it's peak. A team trading for him could have gotten three playoffs out of him instead of just two.

I think we agree the Suns should have traded Bledsoe sooner rather than later but it is what it is now.

 

[Mainstreet]

Sure but that was expected to be a pretty low value first rounder at the time of the deal. I don't think anyone really expected Milwaukee to collapse as they have.

Yeah. The Suns might end up pretty good on the Bledsoe trade after all is said and done.

 

[BC867]

I understand, I really do, and in an ideal world there would be no need of it. But Milwaukee ain't LA and Salt Lake City isn't Miami. Telling a team it can't "tank" would be dooming some franchises to mediocrity. You can't roll back the clock on free agency and you can't control the decisions of a bunch of rich young men. Tanking is sometimes the best tool in the box when you're talking about an uneven playing field.

Before it got out of hand, OK. We wouldn't even be talking about it. But haven't we reached the point of it becoming an issue of (lack of) integrity with the NBA? And its fans?

 

[JCSunsfan]

Yeah. The Suns might end up pretty good on the Bledsoe trade after all is said and done.

We got a mid first round pick and moved $14.5 million in salary. So, the trade really isn't over until we see who they pick and who they sign with that money.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I'm fine with management telling a coach, in general terms, to develop the young players. I'd have a problem if an owner or a GM was instructing a coach to play specific lineups for specific minutes.


I actually think they're making a mistake. They'd be better off returning to a straight reverse order draft. Then, at least, you'd take away the value of tanking for the "good" bad teams as they'd know that a top pick was out of their reach. Is it really harming the game if truly bad teams play poorly?

I think there needs to be strong penalties for tanking at the player, trainer or coach level. Penalties such as a life time ban for any coach that intentionally uses a closing lineup designed to lose. But other than those kind of problems, I really have no issue with organizations trying to lose now to improve their future.

I like Ouchie's idea of making the first pick based upon multiple years. That way good teams can't have one bad year, end up with a great pick and go back to the top.

I do agree with BC, that the integrity of the game seems to be at stake. The last month of the NBA season is filled with worthless games and horrible basketball. That cannot be good for the league.

 

[Mainstreet]

We got a mid first round pick and moved $14.5 million in salary. So, the trade really isn't over until we see who they pick and who they sign with that money.

Yes. This is a key part of the trade as well plus not worrying about Bledsoe as a distraction.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Before it got out of hand, OK. We wouldn't even be talking about it. But haven't we reached the point of it becoming an issue of (lack of) integrity with the NBA? And its fans?

I agree with this despite being pro-tank. Understand, I don’t like the concept of tanking. It’s literally anti-sport. I don’t think it’s fair to the better teams who are competing with teams who get “free” wins when their competition plays a tanking team. That said under the current system I don’t think a team like the suns have a choice. You have to optimize the system to your best interest, hence my calling for a tank from the get go.

 

[JCSunsfan]

Sure but that was expected to be a pretty low value first rounder at the time of the deal. I don't think anyone really expected Milwaukee to collapse as they have.

I think McD thought it was a possibility, hence the unusual protections.

 

[JCSunsfan]

I agree with this despite being pro-tank. Understand, I don’t like the concept of tanking. It’s literally anti-sport. I don’t think it’s fair to the better teams who are competing with teams who get “free” wins when their competition plays a tanking team. That said under the current system I don’t think a team like the suns have a choice. You have to optimize the system to your best interest, hence my calling for a tank from the get go.

This is exactly true. Teams must do everything they can within the rules to improve. It's the NBA's job to make the rules work to their advantage.

 

[Errntknght]

Is any worse for a team who is hoping for a high draft pick to give their young players extended playing time than for a team, prepping for the playoffs, to rest their best players in games against weaker teams? Seems to be the same principle at work, risking a short term loss for a future benefit.

 

[Cheesebeef]

So what, he made his point in that post clear and specific. He did not call you abhorrent. If that is your best example of him getting personal then you don't have any examples.

his post was clear and specific in response to how fans act at the beginning of the year.

And I could come up with other examples, but a) it wouldn't matter apparently and b) it's not worth the time.

I'm the only problem on this board and the sole reason for a toxic environment. Thank you for making that clear.

 

[AzStevenCal]

Is any worse for a team who is hoping for a high draft pick to give their young players extended playing time than for a team, prepping for the playoffs, to rest their best players in games against weaker teams? Seems to be the same principle at work, risking a short term loss for a future benefit.

I agree, it's really the same. And it was when the league backed off on Pop's approach to resting players that the door really flew wide open on tanking. Once the league accepts the notion that a team has the right to do what they feel is best overall even if it looks bad in the short run, they have to apply the same logic to organizational tanking. It certainly changed my mind on the subject.