Rate Donnie Nelson and Mark Cuban's job performance over the last 2 years

[KillerLeft]

- After 2018 draft and KP & THJ trade they just stop upgrading a roster.

- Leaving in FA dreams of Giannis, Gobert, Kawhi and others while other players signed with other teams.

I think this is true, though you can look at it from different angles and form different opinions about the validity of it as an approach. 

I think in the last two off-seasons, there was a top level of transaction they were after - to bring in players of a certain difference making ability. In both cases, they were unsuccessful at that level (F). But, rather than move on to a slightly lesser tier of acquisition, they elected to skip down several tiers to "value signings" after weighing those 2nd-3rd tier options against what they perceived to be real opportunity in future off-seasons (until Luka's extension) to try for those tier 1 guys again. 

Ultimately, it seems like almost all (if not all) of those hypothetical future tier 1 guys came off the board, one by one, and the result is that they might not even get a chance to get turned down by any of them in free agency. That's unfortunate. Also, while some of the "value signings" they've made to move slightly forward while still maintaining flexibility have worked out well, some of them have turned out to be utterly unsuccessful, too. 

At the end of the day, Luka will sign that extension, and then the people who have yearned for an approach that improves the team in the most obvious (but possibly frustratingly slow and limited) way at each opportunity will probably begin to get their wish, as that will be the only option moving forward (especially if KP and his money are still here, on the books). Alternatively, they might find a way to remove KP from the books and replace his salary with Luka's squeezing some more flexibility out of the next couple of seasons. 

What I've always said is that I would judge this approach by the amount of talent on the roster at the end of this following off-season, when Luka signs his extension, and that's what I'll do. But, I must admit it's starting to feel like we're headed for a place that will disappoint me. 

However, what I think is extremely important to remember is that the BIGGEST misstep (again, in hindsight) was the trade for and extending of Porzingis, moves that I think literally all of us thought were no-brainers at the time. If those choices had paid off like we all assumed they would, this would be a very different conversation right now, I think. When there is a giant turd sitting in the punchbowl, I don't understand the inclination to argue about whether or not the punch was made with enough sugar.