The Official Race to the Playoffs/Lottery Thread

[99 Problems]

I have mixed feelings about this win over the Bulls.. On the one hand its nice to see the team playing well and not sucking for once.. But on the other we have some tough games coming up in the near future, and this game and the Sactown game will likely be negated anyway, so all it could possibly do is hurt us in the ping pong balls..

[i-lion]

I don't think it's worth tanking for this year's draft class, unless someone surprises just like Roy did. My personal favorite is Aminu, but i get the feeling he's going to become kind of like Tyrus Thomas. Also i doubt he falls down the draft. Harden on the other hand seems very unathletic. If we have the same draft position i would like us drafting Monroe, he is like a Lamar Odom type.

[YKYW]

After last night's win I got thinking about our draft position currently and whatcould happen for us. Now my opinion is that unless we literally throw the entire season, we are actually going to move further down the draft board than our current spot of 10th.

We currently have 17 wins, one behind the Bulls, Knicks, Bobcats. Two behind NJ and four out of the playoffs. Its very easy to say that by sunday we could move from the 10th pick to the 13th pick! Amazingly if we go to the playoffs in 8th, we would be looking at the 15th pick.

Referencing the most current mock I can find: http://www.nbadraft.net/2009mock_draft it currently shows us taking Clark @ the 9th pick. The reason I assume we'll end up landing somewhere in the 12-15th pick, is our team will probably start to accelerate post allstar break, especially if the Marion trade goes down. While I don't know if making the push is the smartest longer term approach I think Colangelo is in a win now mentality to prove it to Bosh. Tanking isn't in his vocabulary, never has been.

We could get the best of both worlds for us though if we do sneak into the 8th seed with a SG type like Derozan or Curry. I really like Clark and really really like Aminu and Harden but I don't think the latter two are even an option. The reason why is, they will go top five no problem (aminu and harden) so in order for us to land in there we have to drop by at least 7 games as we stand today and that assumes the teams (Thunder, Wiz, Clips, Kings and Grizz) start winning which to be honest, if we're tanking with 17 wins we have to compete with thier tanking haha. I can't see us picking up 7 loses on any of those teams.

Out of the teams below us, the only team with the potential to string some games together is the Warriors. All the other teams below us are already in full tank mode so the best I think we can tank to is 9th. That would likely get us Clark but we could concievably get him at 15 as well.

I guess I'm looking at the fact that we are closer to the playoffs (4gms) than the top 5 (7gms) and the Marion talk tells me this team isn't going to be tanking anytime soon. So its adjusting my expectations of who will realistically get his name called by the Raps. While Curry or DeRozan aren't Harden and Aminu they could be very good SG in this league paticularly ReRozan who is that athletic guy who can drive the hole and really put pressure on the D. I like Steph Curry's big game ability. I think DeRozan is a solid pick in this range.

[The Boshpit!]

In my opinion it is in our best interest to try to make the playoffs as the 7th or 8th seed. The difference between picking 10th and 15th won't make that much of a difference anyways. Hopefully we can land a guy like Evan Turner or DeMar DeRozan at that spot and take a chance trying to develop them at the wing spot. The draft class is just not strong enough this year to look forward to tanking as you can probably get somebody of equal talent with the 15th or 16th pick that you can with the 8th or 9th. Hopefully the Marion trade will go down making us a stronger team for the playoffs.

[jay632]

i was in favour of tanking, but you know BC, he will draft some euro or just trade the pick... this team has way too many holes, BC needs to plan a way to empty his pockets for 2010, nba reset year...

[_MidNight_]

Did Aminu decided to say another year?, DraftExpress doesn't have him coming out in 09 anymore. Anything news on this ?

[chrome381]

In my opinion it is in our best interest to try to make the playoffs as the 7th or 8th seed. The difference between picking 10th and 15th won't make that much of a difference anyways. Hopefully we can land a guy like Evan Turner or DeMar DeRozan at that spot and take a chance trying to develop them at the wing spot. The draft class is just not strong enough this year to look forward to tanking as you can probably get somebody of equal talent with the 15th or 16th pick that you can with the 8th or 9th. Hopefully the Marion trade will go down making us a stronger team for the playoffs.

Humm ever though of it like that maybe actually making the playoffs wouldn't be a complete disaster after all besides if we do start winning a lot of games unexpectedly we could still land a guy like Austin daye who IMO could be better than a guy like Earl Clark if he put some effort into bulking up.

[The Duke]

The HIgher the pick the more valuable it is in a trade.

Hence im all for tanking ... instead of getting run in a 4 game series

[klemen4]

As it looks now it is all open:

Milwaukee 22 25 (I expect them to fall because of Redd injury)
---------------------------
New Jersey 20 24 (I doubt Carter and Harris are enough for 8th spot)
New York 18 25
Charlotte 18 26
Chicago 18 27
Toronto 18 28
Indiana 17 27

4 losses is the difference between 7. teams.

Based on the quality of players and recent play of the teams I think Toronto, Indiana and Charlotte have the most chances to finish 8th.

[Jounster]

reed

[klemen4]

fixed

[NashtyNas]

What do you mean Carter and Harris aren't enough? Have you NOT seen Brook Lopez play?

[Jounster]

the raptors will definetly have a decent chance to make the playoffs trade or no trade, assuming they stay healthy,

if i was any of those teams Id just be looking forward to a sweep though

[The Duke]

which is why we should bow out gracefully now, and make sure we finished at the bottom of the race

[Jounster]

which is why we should bow out gracefully now, and make sure we finished at the bottom of the race

thats what we should do, but somehow i doubt BC will go that route

[Gold Chain]

It all depends on JO.

If we can have him healthy and happy and in a good state of mind off the bench, then we have a fighting chance.

If JO decides in a month that he should be the starter and Bargs comes out and says "Yes, he should be, we are done."

Also, do you trade and expiring PArker to a contender or not?

Is this the team that we will see in April?

[Condi Rice]

An optimistic 23-13, to finish 41-41, Bring on Boston/Orlando... pass on Cavs

(W) at New Jersey
(W) vs Milwaukee
(L) vs Orlando
(L) at Cleveland
(L) vs LA Lakers
(L) at New Orleans
(W) at Memphis
(W) at Minnesota
(L) vs San Antonio
(L) vs Cleveland
(W) at New York
(W) vs New York
(W) vs Minnesota
(L) at Phoenix
(L) at Dallas
(L) at Houston
(W) vs Miami
(L) vs Utah
(W) at Philadelphia
(L) vs Detroit
(W) vs Indiana
(W) at Charlotte
(W) vs Charlotte
(W) vs LA Clippers
(W) vs Milwaukee
(W) vs Oklahoma City
(W) vs Chicago
(L) at Orlando
(W) at New York
(W) vs New York
(L) vs Atlanta
(W) at Indiana
(W) vs Washington
(W) vs Philadelphia
(W) at Washington
(W) at Chicago

[Jounster]

It all depends on JO.

If we can have him healthy and happy and in a good state of mind off the bench, then we have a fighting chance.

If JO decides in a month that he should be the starter and Bargs comes out and says "Yes, he should be, we are done."

Also, do you trade and expiring PArker to a contender or not?

Is this the team that we will see in April?

doesnt depend on JO at all, JO at 200% wont stop our guards/wings from getting exposed,

also fighting chance and us playing cleveland/boston/orlando should not be used in the same post ever,

if parker could be traded solo or packaged for a player that would fit our future plans or a mid 1st round pick I would do it in a second, and resign him afew months later if you want

[RomaniaLuvTR]

not a bad night for us,nets phila and bucks lost

[RINSE]

An optimistic 23-13, to finish 41-41, Bring on Boston/Orlando... pass on Cavs

(W) at New Jersey
(W) vs Milwaukee
(L) vs Orlando
(L) at Cleveland
(L) vs LA Lakers
(L) at New Orleans
(W) at Memphis
(W) at Minnesota
(L) vs San Antonio
(L) vs Cleveland
(W) at New York
(W) vs New York
(W) vs Minnesota
(L) at Phoenix
(L) at Dallas
(L) at Houston
(W) vs Miami
(L) vs Utah
(W) at Philadelphia
(L) vs Detroit
(W) vs Indiana
(W) at Charlotte
(W) vs Charlotte
(W) vs LA Clippers
(W) vs Milwaukee
(W) vs Oklahoma City
(W) vs Chicago
(L) at Orlando
(W) at New York
(W) vs New York
(L) vs Atlanta
(W) at Indiana
(W) vs Washington
(W) vs Philadelphia
(W) at Washington
(W) at Chicago

Even though it's an optimistic outlook, I'm going down that list and can't argue with the W's. Wow, didn't realize how soft the schedule gets at the tail end of the season. The 7 and 5 game winning streaks you have are probably a stretch, but if you factor in an upset here or there your prediction could very well be accurate.

Bottom line, we need to win the games we should win, and steal a couple that we shouldn't. There's still hope for the postseason, whether that's a good thing or a bad thing, I'm not sure.