I think we can safely say we won't get the Laker pick

[Granath]

@ hwangjini_1, Granath

The Nets had no incentive to lose games but they were hands down the worst team in the league. Their roster was full of scrubs. Only good player they had was Lopez. Their second best player was Jeremy Lin! The Lakers have Lopez + KCP + Ball + Clarkson + Ingram + Randle + Nance Jr + Zubac + veteran presence in Deng. They are a far better team than the Nets were last season.

Which absolutely addresses none of my other point about tanking being extremely rare anyway.

[Surferdad]

@ hwangjini_1, Granath

The Nets had no incentive to lose games but they were hands down the worst team in the league. Their roster was full of scrubs. Only good player they had was Lopez. Their second best player was Jeremy Lin! The Lakers have Lopez + KCP + Ball + Clarkson + Ingram + Randle + Nance Jr + Zubac + veteran presence in Deng. They are a far better team than the Nets were last season.

Perhaps, but that's the wrong comparison.  You have to compare how the Lakers have improved as compared to other WC teams.  This is a more correct comparison because they will play most of their games against WC teams.  "I think we can safely say" that many other teams in the West have improved more than the Lakers.

[Neurotic Guy]

I'd bet my left arm that LAL will get off to a good start in 2017-18.  They'll ride hype for a while (headline ESPN every day) and then come back to earth.  Whether they coast down to earth or come crashing down is the question. 

[Erik]

What are some of you guys smoking? PLAYOFFS?

Lakers better than the knicks? With melo and porzingis? In a weak conference? Or are you already expecting him to be traded for peanuts?

 The lakers will finish somewhere in this group
Hawks
Magic
Bulls
Nets
Suns
Kings
Lakers

They're all pretty much equally bad. That means they have a pretty decent shot at being top 5 worst

Wait till you see them play in a regular season game. Lopez is good, KCP is absurdly bad, and the rest are all young players. This team isn't going anywhere...

Interdivisional: 8 losses vs clips and warriors. Let's say they win all vs suns and kings (doubtful)
Intradivisional: vs stacked teams... I'd give them about 30 losses here out of the 36 total
Vs east: I'd say they will lose half of these easily so 15 losses.

That's a 53 loss team. Playoffs? We talking about PLAYOFFS?

[JBcat]

@ hwangjini_1, Granath

The Nets had no incentive to lose games but they were hands down the worst team in the league. Their roster was full of scrubs. Only good player they had was Lopez. Their second best player was Jeremy Lin! The Lakers have Lopez + KCP + Ball + Clarkson + Ingram + Randle + Nance Jr + Zubac + veteran presence in Deng. They are a far better team than the Nets were last season.

Perhaps, but that's the wrong comparison.  You have to compare how the Lakers have improved as compared to other WC teams.  This is a more correct comparison because they will play most of their games against WC teams.  "I think we can safely say" that many other teams in the West have improved more than the Lakers.

I'm not sure the Lakers have improved that much at all.  The scoring lost by Nick Young and Lou Williams is basically a wash for Lopez and KCP.  Yes, look at their averages last year.  Randle and Ingrim should improve but they are so young, and Ball is only a rookie.

[slamtheking]

@ hwangjini_1, Granath

The Nets had no incentive to lose games but they were hands down the worst team in the league. Their roster was full of scrubs. Only good player they had was Lopez. Their second best player was Jeremy Lin! The Lakers have Lopez + KCP + Ball + Clarkson + Ingram + Randle + Nance Jr + Zubac + veteran presence in Deng. They are a far better team than the Nets were last season.

Perhaps, but that's the wrong comparison.  You have to compare how the Lakers have improved as compared to other WC teams.  This is a more correct comparison because they will play most of their games against WC teams.  "I think we can safely say" that many other teams in the West have improved more than the Lakers.

I'm not sure the Lakers have improved that much at all.  The scoring lost by Nick Young and Lou Williams is basically a wash for Lopez and KCP.  Yes, look at their averages last year.  Randle and Ingrim should improve but they are so young, and Ball is only a rookie.

improvement by Randle would be suspect.  just look how many people on this site consider Smart a finished product. 

[Jvalin]

@ hwangjini_1, Granath

The Nets had no incentive to lose games but they were hands down the worst team in the league. Their roster was full of scrubs. Only good player they had was Lopez. Their second best player was Jeremy Lin! The Lakers have Lopez + KCP + Ball + Clarkson + Ingram + Randle + Nance Jr + Zubac + veteran presence in Deng. They are a far better team than the Nets were last season.

Which absolutely addresses none of my other point about tanking being extremely rare anyway.

You said it yourself : ''it's rare that teams tank an entire year''. Agreed. Never said the Lakers tanked the entire year anyway. They started 10-10 and from then on they won 16 out of their remaining 62 games.

Having said that, it's very common for teams to have a rough(/worse than expected) start and tank the rest of the season. There are plenty of teams that might go down that route half way through the 2017-18 season (perhaps even earlier than that).

Phoenix
Dallas
Sacramento
Atlanta
Chicago
NY
Orlando
Indy

(to name some of them)

Tanking happens every single season. Obviously, it's a bigger problem when teams believe there's a superstar coming up in the draft (for instance during the 2013-14 season, although Wiggins hasn't lived up to the hype). Feel free to believe tanking is rare. Imo it's the league's number 1 problem going forward (especially since the Warriors seem to be unbeatable for the foreseeable future).

[Surferdad]

@ hwangjini_1, Granath

The Nets had no incentive to lose games but they were hands down the worst team in the league. Their roster was full of scrubs. Only good player they had was Lopez. Their second best player was Jeremy Lin! The Lakers have Lopez + KCP + Ball + Clarkson + Ingram + Randle + Nance Jr + Zubac + veteran presence in Deng. They are a far better team than the Nets were last season.

Perhaps, but that's the wrong comparison.  You have to compare how the Lakers have improved as compared to other WC teams.  This is a more correct comparison because they will play most of their games against WC teams.  "I think we can safely say" that many other teams in the West have improved more than the Lakers.

I'm not sure the Lakers have improved that much at all.  The scoring lost by Nick Young and Lou Williams is basically a wash for Lopez and KCP.  Yes, look at their averages last year.  Randle and Ingrim should improve but they are so young, and Ball is only a rookie.

I was being generous by saying they would improve at all.  If they do, it's only because of Lopez.  When he goes down for his annual injury, they will be terrible.

[SHAQATTACK]

I m going to agree .  They won't make playoffs , but I rate them 6-10 th worst team.

At the endmof the season all,the good teams sit their players and teams like lAker and nets still fighting hard to improve their records.

Same situation as last year and funny it ALL hinges onthe same player ...SMH ....again Lopez health is the key .

Lopez will be pouring buckets in from Balls crafty passing.

question is when will,he trip , sprain an ankle .

Our,pick will mostly be edetrrmimed by Brooke Lopez once again.   LOL

[Redz]

@ hwangjini_1, Granath

The Nets had no incentive to lose games but they were hands down the worst team in the league. Their roster was full of scrubs. Only good player they had was Lopez. Their second best player was Jeremy Lin! The Lakers have Lopez + KCP + Ball + Clarkson + Ingram + Randle + Nance Jr + Zubac + veteran presence in Deng. They are a far better team than the Nets were last season.

Perhaps, but that's the wrong comparison.  You have to compare how the Lakers have improved as compared to other WC teams.  This is a more correct comparison because they will play most of their games against WC teams.  "I think we can safely say" that many other teams in the West have improved more than the Lakers.

I'm not sure the Lakers have improved that much at all.  The scoring lost by Nick Young and Lou Williams is basically a wash for Lopez and KCP.  Yes, look at their averages last year.  Randle and Ingrim should improve but they are so young, and Ball is only a rookie.

I was being generous by saying they would improve at all.  If they do, it's only because of Lopez.  When he goes down for his annual injury, they will be terrible.

One thing the Nets did well last year was manage Lopez's wear and tear.  He played 75 games with planned days off.  I'm pretty sure he made it through the entire season without any significant injury as a result.  His productivity was better per minute (largely due to his newly discovered joy for 3's).  Of course, all of this careful planning still led to the worst record in the league, so who knows what effect he'll have on a young Lakers team? (Hopefully similar with just a little less luck in the lottery).

[Granath]

@ hwangjini_1, Granath

The Nets had no incentive to lose games but they were hands down the worst team in the league. Their roster was full of scrubs. Only good player they had was Lopez. Their second best player was Jeremy Lin! The Lakers have Lopez + KCP + Ball + Clarkson + Ingram + Randle + Nance Jr + Zubac + veteran presence in Deng. They are a far better team than the Nets were last season.

Which absolutely addresses none of my other point about tanking being extremely rare anyway.

You said it yourself : ''it's rare that teams tank an entire year''. Agreed. Never said the Lakers tanked the entire year anyway. They started 10-10 and from then on they won 16 out of their remaining 62 games.

Having said that, it's very common for teams to have a rough(/worse than expected) start and tank the rest of the season. There are plenty of teams that might go down that route half way through the 2017-18 season (perhaps even earlier than that).

Phoenix
Dallas
Sacramento
Atlanta
Chicago
NY
Orlando
Indy

(to name some of them)

Tanking happens every single season. Obviously, it's a bigger problem when teams believe there's a superstar coming up in the draft (for instance during the 2013-14 season, although Wiggins hasn't lived up to the hype). Feel free to believe tanking is rare. Imo it's the league's number 1 problem going forward (especially since the Warriors seem to be unbeatable for the foreseeable future).

Your entire post is speculation without any proof. You keep bringing up the Lakers as proof of tanking yet this is a team that won FIVE STRAIGHT right at the end of the year when it had literally everything to lose by doing so. That entirely negates your point. The evidence is irrefutable that when tanking would have counted most they simply didn't do so.

You claim it happens "every season" and that it's "very common" and still failed to provide any proof of this. So who tanked last season? I've already shown how the Suns, Lakers, Orlando and other teams didn't do it and that's evidenced by their records throughout the season. The funny thing is that the greatest (non-76er) statistical evidence of tanking over the last two seasons is probably the Brooklyn Nets in 2016 who lost 17 of their last 20 and their last 10....except we had their draft pick!

Now you've doubled down by saying there are at least 8 teams who might do so. Yet again, with no evidence that it's widespread it's simply unfounded speculation bordering on paranoia that somehow all of these teams will collude to rob us of a top 5 draft pick.

[ETNCeltics]

Yes, that Laker 5 game win streak was majorly impressive, led by such stalwarts at Metta World Peace, David Nwaba, Jordan Clarkson, D'Angelo Russell etc, over teams such as SA resting their starters, Davis-less and Cousins-less Pelicans, Gasol-less Grizzlies, and the mighty Kings.

[Darío SpanishFan]

I m going to agree .  They won't make playoffs , but I rate them 6-10 th worst team.

At the endmof the season all,the good teams sit their players and teams like lAker and nets still fighting hard to improve their records.

Same situation as last year and funny it ALL hinges onthe same player ...SMH ....again Lopez health is the key .

Lopez will be pouring buckets in from Balls crafty passing.

question is when will,he trip , sprain an ankle .

Our,pick will mostly be edetrrmimed by Brooke Lopez once again.   LOL

BROOK Lopez was healthy all last season and we ended up with the first pick.

[Ogaju]

Here's the thing - Lakers have incentive to be as good as possible because they are trying to convince two superstars to join them, and they don't own their pick.  They have no reason to tank, and actually have incentive to be good.

Bulls, Pacers, Suns, Hawks, Magic - all own their picks and figure to tank. 

Given those facts I don't think the Lakers have a shot and being bottom-5, which is what we need them to be. That's the way the arrows are pointing anyway.  And there is always the chance their ping-pong ball comes up and Celtics get their 2/3 pick.

The Nets had no reason to tank for the past two seasons.  That didn't stop them from finishing with the #3 and #1 lottery odds, though.  Having "no incentive to tank" doesn't magically make the team better.

LOL probably the easiest TP you ever scored. Way to hit the ball out of the park.

[Jvalin]

@ hwangjini_1, Granath

The Nets had no incentive to lose games but they were hands down the worst team in the league. Their roster was full of scrubs. Only good player they had was Lopez. Their second best player was Jeremy Lin! The Lakers have Lopez + KCP + Ball + Clarkson + Ingram + Randle + Nance Jr + Zubac + veteran presence in Deng. They are a far better team than the Nets were last season.

Which absolutely addresses none of my other point about tanking being extremely rare anyway.

You said it yourself : ''it's rare that teams tank an entire year''. Agreed. Never said the Lakers tanked the entire year anyway. They started 10-10 and from then on they won 16 out of their remaining 62 games.

Having said that, it's very common for teams to have a rough(/worse than expected) start and tank the rest of the season. There are plenty of teams that might go down that route half way through the 2017-18 season (perhaps even earlier than that).

Phoenix
Dallas
Sacramento
Atlanta
Chicago
NY
Orlando
Indy

(to name some of them)

Tanking happens every single season. Obviously, it's a bigger problem when teams believe there's a superstar coming up in the draft (for instance during the 2013-14 season, although Wiggins hasn't lived up to the hype). Feel free to believe tanking is rare. Imo it's the league's number 1 problem going forward (especially since the Warriors seem to be unbeatable for the foreseeable future).

Your entire post is speculation without any proof. You keep bringing up the Lakers as proof of tanking yet this is a team that won FIVE STRAIGHT right at the end of the year when it had literally everything to lose by doing so. That entirely negates your point. The evidence is irrefutable that when tanking would have counted most they simply didn't do so.

You claim it happens "every season" and that it's "very common" and still failed to provide any proof of this. So who tanked last season? I've already shown how the Suns, Lakers, Orlando and other teams didn't do it and that's evidenced by their records throughout the season. The funny thing is that the greatest (non-76er) statistical evidence of tanking over the last two seasons is probably the Brooklyn Nets in 2016 who lost 17 of their last 20 and their last 10....except we had their draft pick!

Now you've doubled down by saying there are at least 8 teams who might do so. Yet again, with no evidence that it's widespread it's simply unfounded speculation bordering on paranoia that somehow all of these teams will collude to rob us of a top 5 draft pick.

Huh??



Of course I have no evidence. How could I possibly have any evidence to begin with? No one has. All we know is there are plenty of teams that have zero incentive to win their games. Regarding the Lakers, they decided to trade Lou Williams for a first rounder + salary filler (Brewer). The way I see it, that's clear indication they couldn't care less about the remainder of the season.

Besides that, players will never lose games on purpose. That's not how tanking works. The GMs are the ones who make the strategic decisions (in some cases I guess head coaches may embrase the tank as well). Players are playing for their next contract. They have no incentive whatsoever to participate in all this. The fact that the Lakers players won 5 games in a row, doesn't necessarily mean that the Lakers front office wanted the team to win in those games. Not to mention, 4 out of the 5 teams that they beat were lottery teams as well.