i'm still trying to wrap my mind around the gamble they made in that zubac trade. they have basically a 50/50 shot of handing over the 6th pick in the draft this year to the clippers. i just don't think i do that for zubac. i suppose if your scouts are certain that there's a big drop after 5, but that's not what most people are saying. imagine going through this tank job and your prize isn't a lotto pick, but rather...zubac (for whom you also paid ANOTHER first round pick AND your recent lottery pick). baffling stuff.
in this case i'll just call it good management for them and a bit of recklessness from indiana. i get that they weren't going to keep mathurin, and that RFAs don't have a ton of trade value, but they could have gotten something just for him, imo. add in that you've traded two first round picks on top of it, including one that could be 6 or 7 in a stacked draft...yikes. keep in mind that if the pick doesn't convey, it becomes a 2031 unprotected pick. that's five years from now. the pacers haven't had consecutive 50-win seasons in the last 20+ years. you'd have to go back to the 94-96 seasons to find that. iow, one of those 2029 or 2031 (or this year's pick) is going to be a good one. zubac is 28, so not old, but also has reasonably reached and probably passed his peak as a player. now, i do like his contract for his production, but as a non-shooter, he definitely makes indiana have to change up their formula (which worked really well!). just seemed like a super weird move to me for them and kind of a no-brainer for the clippers. i'd have done it for less!
Another team riding the tank train until they see the Lakers on the schedule. Doom will be very brief. Nets fans are almost nonexistent at this point. Yes some no name players got their 15 minutes of fame. Now if Bron could claim to be Adou dad. We do on both accounts. Sure was. It’s called ethical tanking. Take that Adam Silver. And see the Lakers wake up in the fourth quarter and realize there’s a game going on. The finishing part is kind of important. Only way JJ will give him some rest. Just another easy 41 point game. Move along, nothing to see here. Not like he’s going to win MVP anyhow. That’s because everyone and their brother knew you were going to lose when we decided to play harder.
Nets fan: Got to love the Pacers lead by 24 in the second quarter and find a way to still lose by 1. Cookie: It’s called ethical tanking. Take that Adam Silver. "Ethical tanking"!!! It's the new art form. All the cool bad teams are doin' it! Be the first crap team on your block to learn how! -I'm interested. My team sucks azz, and we want a high pick in the draft. What do we do? -Okay, just play and enjoy yourself. But when you look up at the scoreboard midway through the 3rd Q and you have a decent lead, "downshift" from 4th to 2nd gear. -What does "downshift" mean? -It means you telegraph passes, take low percentage shots late in the clock, and don't box out. Are you that dumb? If Silver asks ya anything, say it's a game of runs or some cliche like that. What is that bulbous cranium gonna do? Fine you?