Which would you prefer and why?

[DNatagal]

So with the "somewhat" renewed opTimism after getting most of the team on the court at the same time, which do you prefer? With just 21 games left in this shortened season, do you Play to win and rebuild the culture or tank for a better chance to keep our pick this year?

[FNG]

Sadly, this is always a relevant and fair question at this point in a typical Wolves' season. I have not been adverse to soft tanking in the past if I saw it as a means of ensuring a better draft pick in a lost season, but this year I find myself strongly opposed...and I'll be surprised if there are many strong opinions in favor of tanking. I think this team needs to see what they have in order to help Rosas direct his off-season activity, and that means playing the guys who give us the best chance to win. That's what Finch did Monday night, and I think he should continue to play to win every night. In addition to the above reason, I also want to see a winning effort the rest of the season for the following other reasons:

1) We are currently 4 1/2 games "ahead" of Orlando in the race to finish in the bottom three, and 5 ahead of Washington. This Wolves team is young and hasn't shown any ability to string together wins, so it is unlikely that we will win enough games to move out of the bottom three. But even if we get hot and finish 4th, our chances of getting a top three pick don't drop by a significant percentage.

2) Even if we do lose the lottery this year, the Tsunami of Talent potentially in the 2022 draft could make us very happy we kept our 2022 pick, even if it means missing out on the 2021 Big Three. Losing our pick this year to ensure a pick in the 2022 Double Draft (with HS players eligible) may be the best thing for this franchise.

3) I have tickets for three more games in April, and I want to watch some more wins!

NO TANK!

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

When has tanking ever really paid off for this franchise? What it has led to is a corrosive culture of losing that transcends front office and coaching regimes. The only way to root out this culture is to start playing to win.

[AbeVigodaLive]

If anybody doesn't already know my answer by now...




... That being said... as noted, the Wolves have a 4.5 game "lead." They can (and will) try to do both.

[Monster]

These games should probably matter to them to see what the hell they actually need to do going forward. How much closer to knowing what this roster is or isn't than when Rosas took over? I'm behind on games so I'm not exactly sure but honestly I'm not exactly sure how much more locked down things we know than we had then. I think the Wolves may have some better assets but how they fit together? Idk.

They shouldn't be rushing anyone back into the lineup in terms of injury. They should play some young guys and possibly cut back on some of Rubio's minutes depending on who is available. Of course if Rubio plays well it could also help them move him for value in the offseason so that would help the build for the future side of things. It sounds like Beasley won't be playing for a while so that opens up quite a few opportunities for the other many perimeter players on the roster. Like Abe said they are probably going to do a little of both but I hope they aren't going to just tank these games...of course how hard do they have to try? Sigh...

[Lipoli390]

I'd opt for a soft tank. What the Wolves do in the next 21 games won't have a significant impact on the team's culture. A team's culture is developed over years or at least many months. But these next 21 games will have a significant impact on our chances of retaining our first-round pick. Having a first-round pick is critical for a team that's bound to finish in the bottom 5 or 6 at best. Note that we won't just lose our pick if it falls outside the top three; a Conference rival will get that pick. I'd feel differently if we still had full rights to our 1st round pick or if it were at least top-ten protected. But that's not the case.

So in my view, Finch should coach the players on the floor to win. But he should play a lot of players, including Culver, Juancho and Vando, in different combinations in a final effort to evaluate and develop them before the end of the season. That approach will serve the dual purpose of keeping us in the bottom three and providing further information and insight on possible player-personnel decisions in the offseason.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Ahhh, the old question again.

I'll be honest, part of me is relieved when we lose. I don't see a path in the next few years to high level success (second round or conference finals) with this roster even assuming everything unfolds in the best possible way unless we manage to add one more really valuable asset soon. That might be somebody we manage to flip for a superstar in their prime to put next to KAT, or it might be the foundation that allows us to finally move KAT and enter a new rebuilding phase. If we got the #1, maybe Cade could be good enough and Ant could turn his efficiency up in a reduced role next year enough that we could actually get on track to be a decent playoff team. But I'm just too skeptical of DLO's contract and Ant's inefficiencies to think any iteration of this team would be a contender without some kind of big addition or trade in the near future, and getting our pick this year could help one of those two things happen.

But most of me hates the part of me that thinks that way. Most of me thinks "just f*cking win you m*therf*ckers." Part of that is based on logic. The odds of losing the pick are really high even if we have the worst record in the league. And as FNG rightly points out, the 2022 draft could be even better, so it may actually be better for us to lose our pick this year. That would stretch out the timing of the changes I think would need to be made for us to really be a contender, but theoretically, that could be a better draft and there's no guarantee a pick this year would be good enough to help or be a real asset. But mostly, my desire to win is just emotional. I hate all this losing. I'm so fucking sick of it. I've been a fan since the 2000-2001 season, and I've had enough losing and tanking to last a lifetime. We do have a horrible culture. It transcends the players, coaches, and frankly, even the owner. It's just a part of this team's identity at this point. We're losers. We're the joke of the league, and everybody has known it for years. The only way to turn that around is to win. The argument in favor of tanking is a logic-based one that argues it is the best path back to winning in the long run and at a high level. But ultimately, we just need to break this culture, this curse, of being such a losing team. And the only way to do that is to win. So if the question is between tanking to win more eventually, or just winning now, I'll take winning now.

[Lipoli390]

Good points, Drew. But I just come back to a point I've made before. I just don't see culture as something akin to "the force" - i.e., something you tap into and develop. A winning culture comes from winning, but winning comes from talent, particularly the right blend of talent, along with quality coaching. This team has played 65 games since last year's trade-deadline deals and won only 17 of them. That's a 17-48 record with this roster (Rubio, Ant & McDaniels for the last 51 games). That tells me the roster is seriously flawed. And that, in turn, tells me this team needs more talent, or at least a significantly different blend of talent. I don't know how you develop a winning culture without players good enough to win. Having a top three pick, especially in this year's draft, would be a tremendous opportunity to add what looks like elite talent.

Yes, let's play DLO with Towns and Ant and see what they can do. But beyond that core of three, I'd mix, match and experiment to get more insight into the players we have so we're better informed on possible player-personnel moves this offseason. As part of that, I'd give Culver lots of minutes in an effort to rehab his trade value, which can't go lower at this point. I think giving Culver significant minutes will lead to more losses. To me that would be a good thing because it would enhance our chances of keeping our 2021 pick AND it might also help rehab Culver's trade value.

[Coolbreeze44]

We are going to lose a pick in the next couple years no matter what. Play to win and let the chips fall where they may.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Maybe we should focus on being competitive or respectable first and working up from that before we worry about becoming contenders or a championship level team. It's a process of getting better and better. The Wolves haven't been getting better, but rather they tend to get worse and worse before trying all over again. Our expectations should be appropriate.