2026 NBA draft thread

[dirkfansince1998]

PS - About Presti, he tanked because he had OKC picks that he could enhance. Unfortunately the Mavs don't have their own picks. That's the reality, and it would be stupid to tank if you don't have picks

Just saw this and strongly disagree. First of all. Not trying to build for the future because the Mavs don't control their picks is a classic case of sunk cost fallacy. Mavs cannot change the past. Cannot get their picks back. It's in their best interest to build the best possible team around Flagg. That's all that matters.
And I am not even sure where you get the idea that I want to tank. As you just stated. Mavs have no reason to tank. They can try to win as many games as possible. They can do that with the current roster that basically has no future value when it comes to building around Flagg. Or a rebuilding team that at least has a chance to improve over the next 3-4 years.

But back to Presti. Good example would be the 2020 Thunder. They had just sold George and Westbrook. Did not control their pick. Absorbed bad salary that actually helped them play a semi competitive season (winning record and first round loss). CP3 and Gallinari as veteran leaders of a young team. As the only two players on the wrong side of 30. With a young SGA leading the team in minutes and various young prospects getting minutes (basically a trial and error approach to identify keepers). For example Dort
After the season they traded CP3 to the Suns and Gallinari to the Hawks. Adding more picks in the process.

That's smart management. Not concerned about winning at all costs. All about maximizing future assets.