What would you have done as GM that would have gotten you an A+ this off-season?

[DanSchwartzgan]

I loved the whole of this post, and honestly, I love most of your posts. But, the above snippet seems to go out of its way to be pointedly snarky. I don't know that it's aimed at me, obviously, but I know I've used that term and qualifier for the term before. 

Be honest. Do you not agree that there are almost always 2-5 teams that stand out from the rest of the league pretty much right at the beginning of the season, and sometimes even before the season starts? Do you not agree that the winner almost always comes from that group? Are you meaning to poke fun at people who think that way, suggesting that any playoff team has a chance? Because that has not really been my experience with the NBA over the years, personally. 

Now, if your point is "well, tough - you've got to try! Just keep getting better and see what happens!" that's another story. I can totally get behind that message. But, I think many of us believe that the gap between playoff team and "true contender", which, sorry, I think is abundantly clear, is even wider than the the gap between making the playoffs or landing in the 10th-11th seed most years.

Apparently I don’t do “clever” well as IGT thought he offended me (he didn’t come close) and I made you think I was taking a shot at you (I wasn’t, you are always extremely kind to me).  

Here is something to ponder.  At the beginning of the last season, who were those 2-5 teams?  I would submit both LA teams and Philly and Brooklyn.  Milwaukee didn’t have Holiday yet and flamed out famously in the playoffs the season before.  Phoenix was a nice story, but no one imagined them getting past the big boys.

The year we won the championship, were we in the mythical top 2-5?  I would submit not.  But then LA imploded and OKC and Miami weren’t ready yet.  Sometimes you have the obvious winner and you don’t (win).  Sometimes the eventual winner catches some breaks and the unexpected happens.  

We were the fifth in the west and were just a mess much of the season.  Then when we finally got healthy, we just took nights off and lost to some of the worst teams in the league.  Despite all those nights off, we were 6th in Net Rating in the league from 3/1 on, just a little behind a Denver team that doesn’t have their PG right now.  That is what I mean by “close”.  And that is with internal dysfunction, JRich stinking things up, bad Maxi and bad KP.  Some here won’t be satisfied unless we add another top 10 NBA player, but what is the path?  If there isn’t a path, admit it and aim for lots of small improvements at the margins.  Brooklyn might win the next three championships, but injuries could keep them from winning any.  When you are as close as we are to that next rung up (whatever you call it), it is going to take great good fortune to win it all.  This is the Finley/Nash/Dirk era of Luka’s career.  That trio didn’t win a ring, but man it was fun to be a fan back then.