Minnesota Sports Forum

http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/11849585/mark-cuban-oklahoma-city-thunder-mull-race-bottom

Cuban always has an interesting input. Depending on how bad they I could see it. It also wouldn't hurt for Durant and Westbrook to get 100% healthy and not rush back.

This is exactly the type of situation that needs fixing. Cuban is correct when pointing out SA and Duncan. They should have specific clauses limiting draft positions for teams that finished in the top 4, or exceeded 50 wins, or lost said amount of games due to injury by their top players. I don't see OKC tanking, but they could easily finish in the lottery and then hit the jackpot.

Hell no they shouldn't tank. Even if they didn't have homecourt, a healthy Thunder team could still win the west. Even if they got the number 1 pick, that guy still wouldn't be a major factor for a few years, and the Thunder need to win NOW. Durant could very well leave at the end of next year

I think Cuban is out of line with these comments. I'm sure Silver isn't very happy about Cuban suggesting that a team might consider sitting two players who are ready to play in order to improve a draft position. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the San Antonio situation was different. People talk about how lucky the Spurs were that Robinson got hurt so they were able to draft Duncan, but I don't think Robinson was ever healthy enough that season to play. My recollection is he was ruled out for the season when he broke his foot. So there was no integrity issue like there is with the gambit Cuban is suggesting.

Cuban's comments also tell me that he doesn't understand the mentality of the professional athlete. These guys hate missing time with injuries, and would be stunned if an owner asked them to stay out after they were healthy enough to play.

I have found myself shaking my head in the past after Cuban said something preposterous, and I'm doing it again today.

I think tanking now is not an option, but if they are say 8-20 at some point it might make sense. They likely will lose both Reggie Jackson and Perkins next year.

Tank? Steven Adams isn't injured you know!

:thumb:

What I think is somewhat telling is Cuban a very smart owner is saying there is a race to the bottom and tanking in some form is something thats out there. The obvious example is the Sixers. Its pretty obvious what the plan is for the Sixers and quite frankly think is a reasonable stratagy to a point. What are they supposed to do be like the Bucks for a few years trade for and sign some solid vets to stay around .500 for a couple more years? Instead they are doing something like we have seen the Marlins and other teams do in baseball in building through young talent. Its still a little sick what the Sixers are doing but in a way they are playing by the flawed rules that are in front of them. The NBA isn't a pure sport its based so much on money and other factors that have nothing to do with the game. I'm not complaining about the league so much as saying that what the Sixers are doing is more reasonable based on the way the league is constructed and its also the first time I think any NBA team I can think of has bottomed out this hard so we have nothing to compare it to so yeah. I'll also add that what they are doing isn't just tanking but taking a lot of chances on young guys and hoping to get lucky on a couple real flyers (Shved is one of those guys) and obviously hit on some bigtime talent that fell to them.

As for what Cuban actually says he is entertaining maddening and interesting as usual. He said he is just asking the question and then says his own situation last year which probably answers his own question that the Thunder aren't going to be tanking because Westbrook and Durant sound like they will be back for a big chunk of the season.

If they were smart they'd tank so they have some hope if Durant and Westbrook leave. What if they tank enough to land Okafor? That team would be ridiculous and if KD leaves, they would still have Westbrook, Ibaka and Okafor for another year minimum which wouldn't be too bad. I think they'd be much better off adding another young piece to help them from completely bottoming out if Durant and Westbrook leave and if you hit the jackpot it will make it very difficult for Durant and Westbrook to leave with a young stud on a rookie deal for 4 years.

The thought of tanking to me is so horrendous under almost any circumstances. What the Sixers are doing is shameful, and I hope it gets them nowhere. I would rather see each team not making the playoffs all have the same chance at the top 14 picks then what is happening now. Only in the most corrupt league in the world (NBA) is this a problem.

I'm not a fan of tanking either (although I admit there are times at the end of another bad Wolves' season that I prefer a loss to a win), and I think it would be shocking to sit two healthy star players who want to play. But I have a difficult time comparing what Cuban is suggesting to what the 76ers are doing. The 76ers are a bad team, and have been for a few years, but can anyone explain to me how they are tanking? What specific moves have they made that indicate that they are trying to lose, or put another way, what moves should their GM have made in the past few months to make them much better? Some might suggest that trading Thad Young for 2 marginal players and a first round pick was a "tanking" move, but how many more wins was Young going to lead them to this year? Remember, this was the guy who led them to 19 wins last year. And he was going to leave after this season anyway, so why not get a first round pick (and players) in exchange.

I can't imagine that the 76ers were going to convince any good free agents to join that woeful team, so participating in free agency wouldn't have been fruitful for them. And yes, they drafted a player with the third pick who will not play this year. But Embiid was a guy that many thought could go first in the draft if he hadn't gotten hurt, so to me, he was the obvious pick at #3.

Help me out here...what is Sam Hinkie doing that should be considered unethical?