Tankapalooza - let us never speak of this again.

[The Voice]

Tank busted:

[chrisrich91]

We absolutely NEED the Lakers to sneak into the playoffs. Falling too far in the lottery and not getting that Lakers pick will have long-reaching effects.

It's pretty obvious that this team is going to be a playoff team next season, barring injuries. This is our last good chance at a game changing talent in the lottery...after this draft, we will have to start reaching into our bag of assets to trade for impact guys.

I'm not convinced Otto Porter will fall to us if we're drafting 8th. We either need serious lotto luck, we need to stop winning NOW, or we need the Lakers pick so that we have more ammo to move around in the lottery to get our guy.

We're treading dangerous waters...even so, I can't help myself but cheer for these young kids every night. It's so bittersweet. These wins will mean absolutely nothing in two months' time.

[AussieKyrie]

well atleast phoenix won in OT against the spurs and utah pulled out a loss at home .
That makes it 2 OT wins straight for the suns, who would have thought!

[MirORich]

You don't believe that a team led by rookies, 2nd years players and young vets off the bench learning how to play together and win means something in the long run?

You don't think Dion learning how to affect the game the right way in his rookie year with Kyrie and without him is huge for how quickly this team can get to elite level?

Because of the nature of these wins and who is leading these wins, I absolutely disagree that they're meaningless in two months.

We're treading dangerous waters...even so, I can't help myself but cheer for these young kids every night. It's so bittersweet. These wins will mean absolutely nothing in two months' time.

[Tornicade]

You don't believe that a team led by rookies, 2nd years players and young vets off the bench learning how to play together and win means something in the long run?

You don't think Dion learning how to affect the game the right way in his rookie year with Kyrie and without him is huge for how quickly this team can get to elite level?

Because of the nature of these wins and who is leading these wins, I absolutely disagree that they're meaningless in two months.

people arent fans of sports anymore. they are fans of championships. to them and by their logic theres only 7 games that matter and only for the last team standing.

these wins means people watchings the games. enjoying themselves. renewing or getting season tickets for next year.

these wins means excitement and buzz from the fans. higher ratings. better contracts.

For the young players it means they are learning how to win. what it takes and what they need to do to get to the next level.

Teams dont just wake up one day and become champions. they have to take a road to get there. whether its the Boston Celtics supernuke. or the Dallas Mavericks Oddessy.

[Alec Zander]

STOP. FUCKING. WINNING.

[Cassity14]

I root for the tank as much as anyone, but when Dion Waiters has 3 straight all-star type games and is leading the team to wins it's impossible to be upset. I think this team will still end up getting a good piece out of this draft. There is said to be no franchise-changing player at the top so what are these wins even taking away?

[Jack Brickman]

I root for the tank as much as anyone, but when Dion Waiters has 3 straight all-star type games and is leading the team to wins it's impossible to be upset. I think this team will still end up getting a good piece out of this draft. There is said to be no franchise-changing player at the top so what are these wins even taking away?

I feel like even if we end up with the 9th pick or so we have the assets to trade up to 6 or 7 in order to get a guy that we want like Porter or Bennett (or whoever else inevitably falls). This is generally considered to be a pretty weak draft, so the potential is certainly there for us to trade up a few picks.

[pr26]

You can't be mad when it's young guys putting the team on their backs to win these games.

If we were adding vet players who weren't in our longterm plans for the sole purpose of boosting our win total, I'd be upset. We have not done that. Our team has improved by our youth blooming and taking chances on cheap players like Livingston.

We're doing it the right way, and eventually that turns into wins.

[DawgOnKing]

At some point (recently) wins and talent evaluations have turned into winning and talented.

Oops. Sorry.

[Nathan S]

At this rate we'll have to change the title to "Playoff Push 2012-2013 Edition" in a couple of weeks

[Lottery God]

You can't be mad when it's young guys putting the team on their backs to win these games.

If we were adding vet players who weren't in our longterm plans for the sole purpose of boosting our win total, I'd be upset. We have not done that. Our team has improved by our youth blooming and taking chances on cheap players like Livingston.

We're doing it the right way, and eventually that turns into wins.

We're, what, 5th in bench scoring last month? I'd hardly feel right giving all the credit for these wins to our youngsters. If we had our old bench, we'd probably be in 2nd place right now lottery-wise. Our entire bench is full of vets who know how to play the game and are playing for contracts. These types of guys will always be available. I'd rather get the best young prospect out of the draft we can get and fill our bench later than trade for bench players right now and only hope that we keep them while making our own draft pick worse.

This shit's getting serious. We need to start tanking, or we will find ourselves on draft night a day late and a dollar short of getting the piece(s) we need. I really would rather not burn assets in order to move up, which, as we've seen in the past, is never a guaranteed option.

What do we do if Walton, Ellington, Livingston, and Speights are all gone next season? What then do we have to show for the trade other than a pick which won't make up the difference in what pick we will have and what pick we could've had? I'd rather have the 2nd pick in the 2013 draft than the 7th-11th pick in the 2013 draft + a 2015 #10 pick (give or take). Hell, even if those guys stay for a while, they're still replaceable. It won't be so easy to get a 19 or 20-year-old future all-star if we're not in position to take them.

In hindsight, if we end up not getting the prospect we truly wanted, then I regret the Memphis trade. It's just devaluing our pick too much. If we do, however, end up getting the guy we want, then I won't regret it, but I am doubting that we're going to get our number one prospect now because of this trade. Noel could've likely been had if we didn't do this trade. Now, it's only a prayer of a chance. I wouldn't be too salty about the whole situation if we still got Porter or Len (really I hope we just either get one of Porter or Noel), but even that is in question now.

Our youngsters could've learned "how to win" next season just as easily. They were developing fine earlier in the season just by losing barely the whole season, which was perfect. I love that, and I wish it would've continued, but the trade pushed them over the hump in a bad way pick-wise, and the benefits aren't adding up in my eyes. A bench, winning experience, and anything else that this trade gave us could've easily been added later. A future all-star? Not so much.

[BimboColesHair]

At this rate we'll have to change the title to "Playoff Push 2012-2013 Edition" in a couple of weeks

15 of the last 24 games are vs teams currently in the playoffs...time to step away from the ledge

[Fuggles]

Gilbert will pull out the obvious tanking in the final stretch if needed.

He does not give a fuck.

[Tornicade]

We're, what, 5th in bench scoring last month? I'd hardly feel right giving all the credit for these wins to our youngsters. If we had our old bench, we'd probably be in 2nd place right now lottery-wise. Our entire bench is full of vets who know how to play the game and are playing for contracts. These types of guys will always be available. I'd rather get the best young prospect out of the draft we can get and fill our bench later than trade for bench players right now and only hope that we keep them while making our own draft pick worse.

This shit's getting serious. We need to start tanking, or we will find ourselves on draft night a day late and a dollar short of getting the piece(s) we need. I really would rather not burn assets in order to move up, which, as we've seen in the past, is never a guaranteed option.

What do we do if Walton, Ellington, Livingston, and Speights are all gone next season? What then do we have to show for the trade other than a pick which won't make up the difference in what pick we will have and what pick we could've had? I'd rather have the 2nd pick in the 2013 draft than the 7th-11th pick in the 2013 draft + a 2015 #10 pick (give or take). Hell, even if those guys stay for a while, they're still replaceable. It won't be so easy to get a 19 or 20-year-old future all-star if we're not in position to take them.

In hindsight, if we end up not getting the prospect we truly wanted, then I regret the Memphis trade. It's just devaluing our pick too much. If we do, however, end up getting the guy we want, then I won't regret it, but I am doubting that we're going to get our number one prospect now because of this trade. Noel could've likely been had if we didn't do this trade. Now, it's only a prayer of a chance. I wouldn't be too salty about the whole situation if we still got Porter or Len (really I hope we just either get one of Porter or Noel), but even that is in question now.

Our youngsters could've learned "how to win" next season just as easily. They were developing fine earlier in the season just by losing barely the whole season, which was perfect. I love that, and I wish it would've continued, but the trade pushed them over the hump in a bad way pick-wise, and the benefits aren't adding up in my eyes. A bench, winning experience, and anything else that this trade gave us could've easily been added later. A future all-star? Not so much.

you mean the veteran bench that has an average age of 26 ? What will the Cavs have to show?

You seem to undervalue experience yet give experience credit for undermining the draft. you cant have it both ways. if anything If an infusion of a youthful bench whose main attribute is experience is contributing to wins then what does that mean for the heavier talented core who only lacks experience.

Cavs have the returns of 2 quality drafts that their core is based around and a 3rd draft that is deep in the positions of need. This bodes well for the Cavs future regardless of how many wins they get this year and how many members of their current bench they manage to retain or let go.

Cavs would of had a number one pick last year if they had one won more game. Irving was drafted from a teams pick that went 32-50.

Utah had the third pick that year winning 39 games.

the year before Minnesota had the 2nd record and picked 4th. the year before Memphis picked 2nd with 4 teams that had a worse record.

and on to the 2008 draft the Chicago buls drafted first with 8 teams having a worse record.

I am kinda eager for next season when the draft will only be a big deal at the end of the season