The most talked about inconsequential trade?

[celticsclay]

And now Boston owns this pick, so let's hope it is 2-5.

This probably wasn't worth digging up. With the addition of Lopez and pg it looks doubtful we get the pick and it goes to Philly somewhere in the 10-12 range. People will have ended up discussing a first round pick changing hands for 4 years for a late lottery pick. Would be kind of funny if that is what happens

[Smokeeye123]

And now Boston owns this pick, so let's hope it is 2-5.

This probably wasn't worth digging up. With the addition of Lopez and pg it looks doubtful we get the pick and it goes to Philly somewhere in the 10-12 range. People will have ended up discussing a first round pick changing hands for 4 years for a late lottery pick. Would be kind of funny if that is what happens

Paul George is on the Lakers?

[SHAQATTACK]

Howard on the Hornets

traded for Plumlee

wow how,the mighty have fallen

[celticsclay]

And now Boston owns this pick, so let's hope it is 2-5.

This probably wasn't worth digging up. With the addition of Lopez and pg it looks doubtful we get the pick and it goes to Philly somewhere in the 10-12 range. People will have ended up discussing a first round pick changing hands for 4 years for a late lottery pick. Would be kind of funny if that is what happens

Paul George is on the Lakers?

Seems about 80% likely he will be. He has said he wants to go there, won't sign anywhere else and they are already in talks.

[tazzmaniac]

And now Boston owns this pick, so let's hope it is 2-5.

This probably wasn't worth digging up. With the addition of Lopez and pg it looks doubtful we get the pick and it goes to Philly somewhere in the 10-12 range. People will have ended up discussing a first round pick changing hands for 4 years for a late lottery pick. Would be kind of funny if that is what happens

Paul George is on the Lakers?

Seems about 80% likely he will be. He has said he wants to go there, won't sign anywhere else and they are already in talks.

Seems high especially if the offer is just Randle and a couple late 1sts.  I think it is just as likely they do a salary dump trade with Deng. 

As for the MCW trade, it is hard to call it inconsequential when the Sixers used the Lakers pick to acquire the #1 pick.  Without that pick, the trade may not happen.  The pick itself could still end up #1 to the Sixers or #2-5 for us which would not be inconsequential.  Who knows we could end up trading it for an established star. 

[celticsclay]

And now Boston owns this pick, so let's hope it is 2-5.

This probably wasn't worth digging up. With the addition of Lopez and pg it looks doubtful we get the pick and it goes to Philly somewhere in the 10-12 range. People will have ended up discussing a first round pick changing hands for 4 years for a late lottery pick. Would be kind of funny if that is what happens

Paul George is on the Lakers?

Seems about 80% likely he will be. He has said he wants to go there, won't sign anywhere else and they are already in talks.

Seems high especially if the offer is just Randle and a couple late 1sts.  I think it is just as likely they do a salary dump trade with Deng. 

As for the MCW trade, it is hard to call it inconsequential when the Sixers used the Lakers pick to acquire the #1 pick.  Without that pick, the trade may not happen.  The pick itself could still end up #1 to the Sixers or #2-5 for us which would not be inconsequential. Who knows we could end up trading it for an established star.

That is a pretty big leap and I highly doubt that. There are many many iterations that could have happened without that Lakers pick (especially given it is unlikely to convey mathematically) and they likely would have made a trade without its' existence. Whether it is just giving us the Kings pick with no protection, giving us Saric, giving us their own pick next year etc or a different one (they have tons). If there was motivation to do it is pretty easy to find a way to make it work with different assets.

Having said that It is a weird trade and is pretty annoying on the whole.

I am consistent, just like I thought it was a pain in the butt for the 76ers to have a Lakers pick and people made too big a deal of it with the protections, I feel the same way for the Celtics now. I hate that the Celtics are in mystery land and most likely will end up with late a lottery or middling first two years out from this deal. The pick protection stuff sucks. I wish we could just end it. It creates additional tanking situations and is overall bad for the league.

[tazzmaniac]

And now Boston owns this pick, so let's hope it is 2-5.

This probably wasn't worth digging up. With the addition of Lopez and pg it looks doubtful we get the pick and it goes to Philly somewhere in the 10-12 range. People will have ended up discussing a first round pick changing hands for 4 years for a late lottery pick. Would be kind of funny if that is what happens

Paul George is on the Lakers?

Seems about 80% likely he will be. He has said he wants to go there, won't sign anywhere else and they are already in talks.

Seems high especially if the offer is just Randle and a couple late 1sts.  I think it is just as likely they do a salary dump trade with Deng. 

As for the MCW trade, it is hard to call it inconsequential when the Sixers used the Lakers pick to acquire the #1 pick.  Without that pick, the trade may not happen.  The pick itself could still end up #1 to the Sixers or #2-5 for us which would not be inconsequential. Who knows we could end up trading it for an established star.

That is a pretty big leap and I highly doubt that. There are many many iterations that could have happened without that Lakers pick (especially given it is unlikely to convey mathematically) and they likely would have made a trade without its' existence. Whether it is just giving us the Kings pick with no protection, giving us Saric, giving us their own pick next year etc or a different one (they have tons). If there was motivation to do it is pretty easy to find a way to make it work with different assets.

Having said that It is a weird trade and is pretty annoying on the whole.

I am consistent, just like I thought it was a pain in the butt for the 76ers to have a Lakers pick and people made too big a deal of it with the protections, I feel the same way for the Celtics now. I hate that the Celtics are in mystery land and most likely will end up with late a lottery or middling first two years out from this deal. The pick protection stuff sucks. I wish we could just end it. It creates additional tanking situations and is overall bad for the league.

I don't think it is a big leap.  The Lakers are going to suck if they don't trade for PG.  Lou Williams is gone and he was by far their best player last year.  Russell is gone.  They're adding Ball and Lopez so their defense is still probably worst in the league.  Ball is going to struggle without good shooters around him.  They're trying to free up cap space for next offseason so they aren't going be adding good free agents.  How badly the Lakers finish will be more dependent on how many other bad teams there end up being. 

It is possible that the trade may have been worked in some other means but the fact remains the picks acquired from the MCW trade and the ridiculously one-sided Kings salary dump trade were used to make it happen.  I couldn't disagree more about pick protections.  Without them there would be a lot fewer trades. 
 

[celticsclay]

And now Boston owns this pick, so let's hope it is 2-5.

This probably wasn't worth digging up. With the addition of Lopez and pg it looks doubtful we get the pick and it goes to Philly somewhere in the 10-12 range. People will have ended up discussing a first round pick changing hands for 4 years for a late lottery pick. Would be kind of funny if that is what happens

Paul George is on the Lakers?

Seems about 80% likely he will be. He has said he wants to go there, won't sign anywhere else and they are already in talks.

Seems high especially if the offer is just Randle and a couple late 1sts.  I think it is just as likely they do a salary dump trade with Deng. 

As for the MCW trade, it is hard to call it inconsequential when the Sixers used the Lakers pick to acquire the #1 pick.  Without that pick, the trade may not happen.  The pick itself could still end up #1 to the Sixers or #2-5 for us which would not be inconsequential. Who knows we could end up trading it for an established star.

That is a pretty big leap and I highly doubt that. There are many many iterations that could have happened without that Lakers pick (especially given it is unlikely to convey mathematically) and they likely would have made a trade without its' existence. Whether it is just giving us the Kings pick with no protection, giving us Saric, giving us their own pick next year etc or a different one (they have tons). If there was motivation to do it is pretty easy to find a way to make it work with different assets.

Having said that It is a weird trade and is pretty annoying on the whole.

I am consistent, just like I thought it was a pain in the butt for the 76ers to have a Lakers pick and people made too big a deal of it with the protections, I feel the same way for the Celtics now. I hate that the Celtics are in mystery land and most likely will end up with late a lottery or middling first two years out from this deal. The pick protection stuff sucks. I wish we could just end it. It creates additional tanking situations and is overall bad for the league.

I don't think it is a big leap.  The Lakers are going to suck if they don't trade for PG.  Lou Williams is gone and he was by far their best player last year.  Russell is gone.  They're adding Ball and Lopez so their defense is still probably worst in the league.  Ball is going to struggle without good shooters around him.  They're trying to free up cap space for next offseason so they aren't going be adding good free agents.  How badly the Lakers finish will be more dependent on how many other bad teams there end up being. 

It is possible that the trade may have been worked in some other means but the fact remains the picks acquired from the MCW trade and the ridiculously one-sided Kings salary dump trade were used to make it happen.  I couldn't disagree more about pick protections.  Without them there would be a lot fewer trades. 
 

The Lakers really really intentionally tried to lose games last year to protect their pick. They set reasonable veterans players like Deng and Nick Young and traded Louis Williams. Later in the year they got even more extreme playing calderon minutes, playing 3rd string point guard minutes. Sitting Russel with no injuries. Constantly changing their lineups etc. It was a complete charade and you should go back and look at the box scores if you were not following it. With all those charades the Lakers only won 5 less games than 4 other teams.

 So you now you add in a year of growth from Randle, Ingram and whatever Ball brings. Actually playing Deng and other veterans, plus some minor free agent signings that may happen.

You honestly think that is not better than a Nets team that isn't even adding a lottery pick? A Kings team that has unknown young parts and no vets? A Knicks team that loses Rose and Anthony and maybe porzingas off a team that won 29 games? A hawks team that is losing Milsap and Howard and likely will continue to offload veterans? A dallas team led by Nerlens Noel and Yogi Ferrel? A magic team that punted on Sergie and is trying to figure out what to do with mismatched parts? There is a ton of contenders for stinkers there, almost all of whom will own their pick and count on using it to improve.

I think if we as Celtics fans think the Lakers are definitely going to be a bottom 5 team we are going to be sorely disappointed. Let's just be realistic about it.

[Moranis]

Without George the Lakers are a bottom 5 team.  With George I'm not even sure they make the playoffs. I mean George with Teague, Ellis, Turner, Young, Jefferson,  and some  respectable role players only won 42 games in the East.  The Lakers have Lopez, Deng, and a bunch of role players or very raw young guys. They are in the Warriors and Clippers division.  Matching the Pacers 42 wins won't be easy and might not even be enough to make the playoffs next year anyway.

[tazzmaniac]

And now Boston owns this pick, so let's hope it is 2-5.

This probably wasn't worth digging up. With the addition of Lopez and pg it looks doubtful we get the pick and it goes to Philly somewhere in the 10-12 range. People will have ended up discussing a first round pick changing hands for 4 years for a late lottery pick. Would be kind of funny if that is what happens

Paul George is on the Lakers?

Seems about 80% likely he will be. He has said he wants to go there, won't sign anywhere else and they are already in talks.

Seems high especially if the offer is just Randle and a couple late 1sts.  I think it is just as likely they do a salary dump trade with Deng. 

As for the MCW trade, it is hard to call it inconsequential when the Sixers used the Lakers pick to acquire the #1 pick.  Without that pick, the trade may not happen.  The pick itself could still end up #1 to the Sixers or #2-5 for us which would not be inconsequential. Who knows we could end up trading it for an established star.

That is a pretty big leap and I highly doubt that. There are many many iterations that could have happened without that Lakers pick (especially given it is unlikely to convey mathematically) and they likely would have made a trade without its' existence. Whether it is just giving us the Kings pick with no protection, giving us Saric, giving us their own pick next year etc or a different one (they have tons). If there was motivation to do it is pretty easy to find a way to make it work with different assets.

Having said that It is a weird trade and is pretty annoying on the whole.

I am consistent, just like I thought it was a pain in the butt for the 76ers to have a Lakers pick and people made too big a deal of it with the protections, I feel the same way for the Celtics now. I hate that the Celtics are in mystery land and most likely will end up with late a lottery or middling first two years out from this deal. The pick protection stuff sucks. I wish we could just end it. It creates additional tanking situations and is overall bad for the league.

I don't think it is a big leap.  The Lakers are going to suck if they don't trade for PG.  Lou Williams is gone and he was by far their best player last year.  Russell is gone.  They're adding Ball and Lopez so their defense is still probably worst in the league.  Ball is going to struggle without good shooters around him.  They're trying to free up cap space for next offseason so they aren't going be adding good free agents.  How badly the Lakers finish will be more dependent on how many other bad teams there end up being. 

It is possible that the trade may have been worked in some other means but the fact remains the picks acquired from the MCW trade and the ridiculously one-sided Kings salary dump trade were used to make it happen.  I couldn't disagree more about pick protections.  Without them there would be a lot fewer trades. 
 

The Lakers really really intentionally tried to lose games last year to protect their pick. They set reasonable veterans players like Deng and Nick Young and traded Louis Williams. Later in the year they got even more extreme playing calderon minutes, playing 3rd string point guard minutes. Sitting Russel with no injuries. Constantly changing their lineups etc. It was a complete charade and you should go back and look at the box scores if you were not following it. With all those charades the Lakers only won 5 less games than 4 other teams.

 So you now you add in a year of growth from Randle, Ingram and whatever Ball brings. Actually playing Deng and other veterans, plus some minor free agent signings that may happen.

You honestly think that is not better than a Nets team that isn't even adding a lottery pick? A Kings team that has unknown young parts and no vets? A Knicks team that loses Rose and Anthony and maybe porzingas off a team that won 29 games? A hawks team that is losing Milsap and Howard and likely will continue to offload veterans? A dallas team led by Nerlens Noel and Yogi Ferrel? A magic team that punted on Sergie and is trying to figure out what to do with mismatched parts? There is a ton of contenders for stinkers there, almost all of whom will own their pick and count on using it to improve.

I think if we as Celtics fans think the Lakers are definitely going to be a bottom 5 team we are going to be sorely disappointed. Let's just be realistic about it.

The Lakers started of 10-10 and won 5 of their last 6.  That's 15 of their 26 wins.  You didn't refute that they are going to be an awful defensive team again.  As for the players you mentioned, Williams and Russell are gone.  Young opted out and is probably gone.  The Lakers were quite a bit better with Randle off court.  Ingram is a favorite of mine but he'd have to make a huge leap to significantly affect the Lakers win total.  Deng is going to make a difference and they'll dump him as soon as they reasonably can.  What's the Lakers starting lineup?  Ball, Ingram, Deng, Randle, Lopez?   That's a lousy team. 

The Nets essentially added a lottery pick by trading for Russell.  I'm still thinking they may add Crabbe in a salary dump trade.  There are certainly other potentially bad teams but I think the Lakers are going to be competing (seems like the wrong word  ) for a bottom 5 spot.  Again barring a PG trade. 

[celticsclay]

And now Boston owns this pick, so let's hope it is 2-5.

This probably wasn't worth digging up. With the addition of Lopez and pg it looks doubtful we get the pick and it goes to Philly somewhere in the 10-12 range. People will have ended up discussing a first round pick changing hands for 4 years for a late lottery pick. Would be kind of funny if that is what happens

Paul George is on the Lakers?

Seems about 80% likely he will be. He has said he wants to go there, won't sign anywhere else and they are already in talks.

Seems high especially if the offer is just Randle and a couple late 1sts.  I think it is just as likely they do a salary dump trade with Deng. 

As for the MCW trade, it is hard to call it inconsequential when the Sixers used the Lakers pick to acquire the #1 pick.  Without that pick, the trade may not happen.  The pick itself could still end up #1 to the Sixers or #2-5 for us which would not be inconsequential. Who knows we could end up trading it for an established star.

That is a pretty big leap and I highly doubt that. There are many many iterations that could have happened without that Lakers pick (especially given it is unlikely to convey mathematically) and they likely would have made a trade without its' existence. Whether it is just giving us the Kings pick with no protection, giving us Saric, giving us their own pick next year etc or a different one (they have tons). If there was motivation to do it is pretty easy to find a way to make it work with different assets.

Having said that It is a weird trade and is pretty annoying on the whole.

I am consistent, just like I thought it was a pain in the butt for the 76ers to have a Lakers pick and people made too big a deal of it with the protections, I feel the same way for the Celtics now. I hate that the Celtics are in mystery land and most likely will end up with late a lottery or middling first two years out from this deal. The pick protection stuff sucks. I wish we could just end it. It creates additional tanking situations and is overall bad for the league.

I don't think it is a big leap.  The Lakers are going to suck if they don't trade for PG.  Lou Williams is gone and he was by far their best player last year.  Russell is gone.  They're adding Ball and Lopez so their defense is still probably worst in the league.  Ball is going to struggle without good shooters around him.  They're trying to free up cap space for next offseason so they aren't going be adding good free agents.  How badly the Lakers finish will be more dependent on how many other bad teams there end up being. 

It is possible that the trade may have been worked in some other means but the fact remains the picks acquired from the MCW trade and the ridiculously one-sided Kings salary dump trade were used to make it happen.  I couldn't disagree more about pick protections.  Without them there would be a lot fewer trades. 
 

The Lakers really really intentionally tried to lose games last year to protect their pick. They set reasonable veterans players like Deng and Nick Young and traded Louis Williams. Later in the year they got even more extreme playing calderon minutes, playing 3rd string point guard minutes. Sitting Russel with no injuries. Constantly changing their lineups etc. It was a complete charade and you should go back and look at the box scores if you were not following it. With all those charades the Lakers only won 5 less games than 4 other teams.

 So you now you add in a year of growth from Randle, Ingram and whatever Ball brings. Actually playing Deng and other veterans, plus some minor free agent signings that may happen.

You honestly think that is not better than a Nets team that isn't even adding a lottery pick? A Kings team that has unknown young parts and no vets? A Knicks team that loses Rose and Anthony and maybe porzingas off a team that won 29 games? A hawks team that is losing Milsap and Howard and likely will continue to offload veterans? A dallas team led by Nerlens Noel and Yogi Ferrel? A magic team that punted on Sergie and is trying to figure out what to do with mismatched parts? There is a ton of contenders for stinkers there, almost all of whom will own their pick and count on using it to improve.

I think if we as Celtics fans think the Lakers are definitely going to be a bottom 5 team we are going to be sorely disappointed. Let's just be realistic about it.

The Lakers started of 10-10 and won 5 of their last 6.  That's 15 of their 26 wins.  You didn't refute that they are going to be an awful defensive team again.  As for the players you mentioned, Williams and Russell are gone.  Young opted out and is probably gone.  The Lakers were quite a bit better with Randle off court.  Ingram is a favorite of mine but he'd have to make a huge leap to significantly affect the Lakers win total.  Deng is going to make a difference and they'll dump him as soon as they reasonably can.  What's the Lakers starting lineup?  Ball, Ingram, Deng, Randle, Lopez?   That's a lousy team. 

The Nets essentially added a lottery pick by trading for Russell.  I'm still thinking they may add Crabbe in a salary dump trade.  There are certainly other potentially bad teams but I think the Lakers are going to be competing (seems like the wrong word  ) for a bottom 5 spot.  Again barring a PG trade.

I think this actually shows that they could be a lot more competitive with some of their players (and was why I originally started the thread last year). After that start they then had some injuries that set them back and played worse, at which point the crazy tank came out. I actually believe Walton is a really solid coach. I think Nance is a really nice player that gets underrated because he plays behind a high pick like Randle. I do think Ingram will be a serviceable bench player this year (he started playing ok the second half of last year). I also believe they will make a few small moves this offseason to try and save face under Magic.

Do really not find it hard to imagine this team coming out and having a truly awful season under Magic in a year when they don't even get their top pick for being bad? I think the most likely scenario is that they are sitting around 7th worst most of the season and climb a few spots towards the end the of the season when teams like the Knicks, Magic, Suns, Kings, Hawks, Mavs are experimenting giving developmental guys major minutes while the Lakers are trying desperately trying to get some cheap wins to "show growth" to be attractive to PG and Lebron and friends.

I would love to be wrong on this, and will give you 10tps if we get that Lakers pick next year.

[Moranis]

The Lakers are going to be a very bad team.  I mean Lopez is now by far their best player and we know what teams with Lopez as their best player look like.  Even if Ball is the second coming, they still won't be very good.  I mean even the very best rookies of all time, guys like Lebron James, Michael Jordan, etc. only increased the win total of their team by like 15 games and Ball isn't going to be one of those guys and they lost a bunch of key contributors from last year's team (Williams, Russell, Young, Mozgov) while really only adding Lopez and Ball.

I wouldn't be overly surprised if the Lakers finished with the worst record, though would expect the Nets to be worse and the Lakers to be in the same general range as the Suns, Kings, and the Knicks (if they move Anthony and/or Zinger).  If George or Butler get moved, the Pacers and Bulls could certainly fall off the map, but that might elevate a team like the Suns (if they acquire Love and send assets to the other team). 

[celticsclay]

The Lakers are going to be a very bad team.  I mean Lopez is now by far their best player and we know what teams with Lopez as their best player look like.  Even if Ball is the second coming, they still won't be very good.  I mean even the very best rookies of all time, guys like Lebron James, Michael Jordan, etc. only increased the win total of their team by like 15 games and Ball isn't going to be one of those guys and they lost a bunch of key contributors from last year's team (Williams, Russell, Young, Mozgov) while really only adding Lopez and Ball.

I wouldn't be overly surprised if the Lakers finished with the worst record, though would expect the Nets to be worse and the Lakers to be in the same general range as the Suns, Kings, and the Knicks (if they move Anthony and/or Zinger).  If George or Butler get moved, the Pacers and Bulls could certainly fall off the map, but that might elevate a team like the Suns (if they acquire Love and send assets to the other team).

 Mosgov was a key contributer? He was out of the rotation by February and Zubac came in at 20 years olds and was already as good as him. How is a year of development from Zubac (who averaged 11 pts and 5 rebounds in 20 minutes for February) not going to be at least as good as Mosgovs carcass? How do you know Young is gone? Also, is the offseason already over? Can they not sign any players even vet min people, but are assumed to have lost Young?

Do Randle and Ingram not get any better and are not worth mentioning?
Does it not matter they won't be shamelessly tanking like last year to protect their pick?

On the plus side it is a rare argument that you are on the optimistic side of the Celtics future where the Celtics get a top 5 pick next year. So that is something new. I think your brain hasn't made the connection that it is no longer fully owned by Philly so you are still supporting it through that lens.

[Moranis]

Mozgov started 52 of 54 games and played 20 mpg.  That is a key contributor.  Now they upgraded him with Lopez so his loss won't really be felt, but he was still a key contributor to that team.

Unless Young comes back on a 1 year deal, the Lakers won't re-sign him.  In fact they aren't going to sign anyone for any kind of money past this next season (except rookies).  The whole reason they made the Russell trade was to get rid of Mozgov's salary so they could clear cap space for the summer of 2018.  No vet minimum player is going to go to the Lakers.  Those guys go to teams that can win.  Now they could just offer a bunch of 1 year contracts (like Boston did with Amir), but again those type of players aren't going to yield a bunch of wins.  They are role players at best at that point in their careers.

The Lakers aren't going to overtly tank like they did this year, but they aren't going to put together the best team they possibly could either, because they aren't going to use the cap space.  That is true even if they trade for George.  They just aren't going to go crazy on anyone.  They will keep it to 1 year contracts or rookies. 

Ingram should make a lot of strides, and Randle will probably get a bit better, but he is now entering year 4, I don't think you can expect a lot of improvement from him (even with the injury in year 1).  He also terrible defensively and that won't improve.  Nance and Zubac should also both be better.  Clarkson is what he is.  Adding Lopez and Ball to that team, just doesn't make it a good team.  they are going to be a bad team. 

And I'm confused by your last statement, as I pretty consistently said the Lakers were one of the worst teams in basketball last year, which meant I expected them to keep their pick and not actually give it to Philly this year.  I thought it would have been funny if they overtly tanked and then lost the lottery, but that doesn't mean it was likely to happen that way.  I also don't have these agendas you seem to think I have.  I just call things like I see them.

[celticsclay]

Mozgov started 52 of 54 games and played 20 mpg.  That is a key contributor.  Now they upgraded him with Lopez so his loss won't really be felt, but he was still a key contributor to that team.

Unless Young comes back on a 1 year deal, the Lakers won't re-sign him.  In fact they aren't going to sign anyone for any kind of money past this next season (except rookies).  The whole reason they made the Russell trade was to get rid of Mozgov's salary so they could clear cap space for the summer of 2018.  No vet minimum player is going to go to the Lakers.  Those guys go to teams that can win.  Now they could just offer a bunch of 1 year contracts (like Boston did with Amir), but again those type of players aren't going to yield a bunch of wins.  They are role players at best at that point in their careers.

The Lakers aren't going to overtly tank like they did this year, but they aren't going to put together the best team they possibly could either, because they aren't going to use the cap space.  That is true even if they trade for George.  They just aren't going to go crazy on anyone.  They will keep it to 1 year contracts or rookies. 

Ingram should make a lot of strides, and Randle will probably get a bit better, but he is now entering year 4, I don't think you can expect a lot of improvement from him (even with the injury in year 1).  He also terrible defensively and that won't improve.  Nance and Zubac should also both be better.  Clarkson is what he is.  Adding Lopez and Ball to that team, just doesn't make it a good team.  they are going to be a bad team. 

And I'm confused by your last statement, as I pretty consistently said the Lakers were one of the worst teams in basketball last year, which meant I expected them to keep their pick and not actually give it to Philly this year.  I thought it would have been funny if they overtly tanked and then lost the lottery, but that doesn't mean it was likely to happen that way.  I also don't have these agendas you seem to think I have.  I just call things like I see them.

I think about 85% of people on this board would say you an overt positive bias towards the 76ers and Cleveland compared to Boston. Indeed I have seen at least 10 other posters make note of it/