Shams: Nico to be fired today!

[F Gump]

Their biggest asset is the 1st round pick in the upcoming draft. The goal should be to maximize that by biting the bullet and finishing the season with a bottom 3 record. After bringing im another young lottery player this whole franchise can look promosing again rather quickly thanks to Flagg already being here. If they play their cards right that could be our version of Tatum / Brown in Boston.

And then you can still turn one or both of Kyrie / AD into all kinds of draft picks / other young guys who will align with Flagg and the 2026 draftee.

That’s what? 70+ games of being terrible? I‘d certainly aim at that and then try to compete with Flagg, the 2026 draftee and hopefully some of the younger guys can stick around throughout the loooong period where they don’t controle their own draft pick..

This ^ is where I've landed as well, which is to "invest" this season into creating value for trades, growing ability in players, and making the 2026 FRP land high in the draft. I don't see anything at all that is more important than making those happen. That means lots of losses, and lots of complaints about lineups and paths not taken, from week to week, to travel that long road to the summer.

So it will take a FO leader with vision and who wears big boy pants to make those things happen, because there will be a massive number of voices with differing preferences who will holler loudly at every ugly thing along the way if/when their differing vision isn't followed. 

Do I think they can bite the bullet to do that? Or find the right GM who can? I really don't know.