If you really want to pick nits one could point out that the .539 eFG% would be tied with the Lakers and Pacers, and I didn’t go past three decimal points, so I dunno, maybe they’d really be 18th, but you get the idea.

https://twitter.com/jakebrownnba/status/1631023902590631937?s=46&t=JI5QNV28kSJZnpceT3vAig

Picks have intrinsic value based on PROBABILITIES, not based on outcomes.”

This drastically overstates the case. Of course the players available should influence one’s opinion on the wisdom of trading a pick on draft night. Not all 1st picks or 20th picks or what have you are created equal, some drafts are stronger than others and different players have vastly different probabilities of succeeding in the NBA.

Sure, there’s a lot of luck involved in the draft, but you make it sound like it’s literally a pure crapshoot. That’s not remotely true–NBA teams spend a lot of money and hours trying to determine which prospects are better than others. They are often not successful in doing so, but I don’t think they’d be just as successful picking names out of a hat.

Chances Darius Garland ends up having the best career out of the 2019 lottery?”

He’s a very good player, but recent revelations have lowered my disappointment about not getting him also.

Chances Darius Garland ends up having the best career out of the 2019 lottery?

I think that’s a reasonable measuring stick.

There are loads of teams being built in every way imaginable that will not win the NBA championship, eventually throw in the towel, and be forced to start over. That doesn’t mean they failed. It’s very hard to win a championship even if you do a great job. As long as Rose and company put us in a position where we can call ourselves a fairly serious contender, they’ve done their job. The rest is part luck.

I can already predict that if 5 years from now we’ve made a couple of 2nd rounds, 1 EC Finals, and then start retooling, some people are going to start whining. But people like that will whine about everything.

The goal this year was to add a starting PG, turn Randle around, get some development from young players, win over 40 games, make the play-in or playoffs, and go from there. We exceeded every goal by far with one exception. RJ hasn’t developed as much as we hoped (though others have).

The goal for next year is to clarify the RJ issue, try to upgrade the starting SG or SF position depending on what happens with RJ, win around 50 games plus or minus a couple, and be in the top few in the EC.