I’d argue that it was less cynical than the Process. Sure, it worked faster than they thought, and there was some luck, but they were never trying to be fuck-it-burn-it-all bad. They’re a well run team. The Sixers aren’t. That, rather than luck, is the difference between them.

The problem with the Knicks isn’t that they didn’t tank. The problem is that the organization is run like shit.

Can I be a ROY candidate, too, since I’m not playing, either? Hypothetical awesome guys really are hypothetically awesome, you’re right.

This, all of this, so much this. ^^^^^

You may watch more basketball games than I do, but every example you cite about how amazing the Sixers are comes from some hypothetical future where they’re tearing up the league.

How the fuck much lower could they have gone? Put me and my five-year-old son in the NBA for a year, and we’ll make “obvious strides.” Doesn’t mean that we’ll be competing for championships before our contracts expire.

And again in two to three years they’ll be “a legit top 5 team in 2-3 years.”

They are the 14 seed in the East.

They’re still going to be “going to be” a force in a few years. The Sixers are in a state of both perpetual future-tense glory and permanent present-tense ass-sucking.

Not a dunk.

That would be actually amazing.

Why do people always show up here to argue with a hypothetical person who’s going to show up here, when that person usually never shows up here?

Wonder if I could move back to Iowa and defeat Steve King with a platform consisting solely of “Fuck Nebraska Football” ...

Wait, OK has good pizza? This is total news to me.

Um, Lakers suck, dude. It’s not controversial.

Travel.

But the organizations that do the smart things end up producing people who everyone thinks is a genius. Is Belichik REALLY that smart, or is he just dealing with a whole bunch of dumb assholes who don’t understand the value of mid-round picks? I say the latter.

I’m an Iowa fan (wearing a Hawkeyes hoodie as I type this), and I will confirm: Alford is scum.

Indiana Basketball = Nebraska Football. Programs that used to be great, haven’t been great for a long time, probably won’t ever be great again, and yet for some reason still think they’re really, really fucking great.

Yeah, keeping a pick is a little different. For one, it’s usually a one-year thing. And two, it’s sometimes the difference between no player at all and a top-three pick.