If we could have been “golden” by properly executing the “make your picks” part of the hybrid method, then the whole dissent against the hybrid method fails on its face, because ANY method relies on proficient execution of all aspect, doesn’t it?

I never said we’d be golden had we made our picks, but we’d be better off than today. I think the hybrid method is categorically inferior to the true rebuild precisely because having a high ceiling required needle-threading with very little margin for error.

OKC is better than golden, and they haven’t nailed every pick by any means. You don’t need to nail every pick with the true rebuild, just a few in many chances. In contrast, incinerating or missing on an individual pick materially lowers our already much lower ceiling.

I suggest that you go back to the threads from the pre-Mitch signing era, particularly TNFH’s incessant worrying about how we were about to lose Mitch for nothing. Many here assumed that his market value was well above what we signed him for. Which is probably what is going on right now.

But this makes the point that there are always confounders built into any rebuilding process. If we could have been “golden” by properly executing the “make your picks” part of the hybrid method, then the whole dissent against the hybrid method fails on its face, because ANY method relies on proficient execution of all aspect, doesn’t it? In other words, if you keep drafting duds in the draft, the down to the studs rebuild also fails, doesn’t it?

Not really, it was extremely similar. We could only offer Mitch a certain amount, and we can only offer iHart a certain amount. And who’s to know how healthy iHart can remain? He’s constantly nursing a sore achilles.

Not similar. We were able to offer Mitch more than his market value, while we can only offer iHart substantially less. iHart has played in 152 of 156 possible games for is. Using that as a demerit in this era is a Wembanyama-level stretch.

The Cavs didn’t win anything despite having the GOAT, until the hometown kid came back for an encore. The Sixers’ owenership ran out of patience after being the league laughingstock for numerous years, and they haven’t gotten out of the second round.

Not my GOAT. But the Cavs had a 66-win season and made the NBA finals. I would love to “fail” like that. They also made zero other good roster moves after drafting the most obvious no. 1 overall in history, and still got more success out of it than we’ve had in 30 years.

The Sixers also have made terrible moves following the process, denying its architect the fruits of his labor. Still, they have been a perennial 50-win team. They have enjoyed far more championship equity than we have now, and likely will for the rest of Embiid’s prime.

If Presti didn’t cash in on his failure (it’s obvious that he totally fucked up by not keeping Harden) he’d be in the same boat we are in right now. Kudos to him for doing so.

What failure? They got rid of him because they couldn’t afford him on top of KD+Russ, not because Presti didn’t want him.

We are in a competitive situation with the Cavs right now with more future leverage than they have. Remember how they were held up as an example of what could have been? How’s that goink?

Do we have more future leverage? They have a former #1 overall who compares favorably to KG at the same age, giving them massively more internal upside than we have. Does the couple of excess mid/late first rounders that Leon is loading onto his incineratin’ shovel really compare to that?

A ten second Google search finds that.”

Wait, despite utter contempt from its rankk-in-file, the NYTimes publishes opinions from the extreme right? Doesn’t that suggest that the editorial staff believes that its readers should be exposed to a spectrum of opinions, including those from blogs initiated by white supremacists?

But the team that did the optimal rebuild is in better shape than the team that optimally executed the hybrid method, that seems obvious to me.

That’s because we did not optimally execute the hybrid. We only nailed the free agency part. The other part of the hybrid is making your picks.

OKC pulled a hybrid, btw. They tanked one season, same as us.

Not really, it was extremely similar. We could only offer Mitch a certain amount, and we can only offer iHart a certain amount. And who’s to know how healthy iHart can remain? He’s constantly nursing a sore achilles.

OG will start, Deuce will go to the bench (I suppose it means that JB and J-Hart will both play)?

Edit: Popper confirmed that JB will play