I think there’s a fair argument to be made that teams that are crummy without the help of prior #1 picks are probably a little more deserving than teams who are crummy despite prior #1 picks. I also don’t know that I’d describe every team other than Golden State as inept. 

I’m not surprised by it. No more than if i watch a roulette wheel spin I’m surprised that it lands on any particular number. I think just about any goalie who is the #1 on a playoff team is certainly capable of going on a hot streak.

A lot of fun pedants have pointed out something similar so to be similarly pedantic I’ll point out that I did not say “Win the draft lottery”. 

So this is what I mean when I talk about the randomness of the league. Rask is a good goalie. A solid #1. But the idea that the playoffs hinge on him is nuts. Here are his ranks in the last 5 years in SV% among goalies playing more than 41 games:

It’s impossible to definitively answer but given that the chances of AD coming back seemed like zero...I guess it could only raise them. That said, it sure sounded like his problems ran deeper than just the Pelicans not being good enough. 

You realize the opposite philosophy would be akin to Deadspin refusing to hire any more good writers because they think other sites should get more competitive with them, right?

Yeah, I have absolutely no opinion as to whether or not it’s a good hire. I just think “he’s not good at coaching defense but at least he knows it” is a weird thing to pass off as coaching genius. 

Yeah, I wasn’t really asking how it was technically possible. Cheers all the same though. 

Seriously, how is it possible that the Western Conference is both miles better than the Eastern Conference and somehow manages to get the top draft pick every year? 

I mean, I always kind of viewed delegation as integral to good leadership because of time management rather than because you’re bad at a huge part of the job.

I know everyone’s going to focus on the players not getting paid and him being a bad guy but equally noteworthy is trying to present the fact that he’s a terrible defensive coach as somehow proof of what a genius he is. 

I’m not exactly sure what sort of example you’re expecting me to find when your whole position is that no generational type talents are anything but etched in stone to become those talents regardless of who drafts them or why. I mean Kawhi Leonard is a perfect example of someone who clearly wasn’t what he eventually…

I think player evaluation tends to be a little bit easier when you’re looking at slightly more established prospects that other teams are offering you for the latest superstar you’re about to trade.

I’m pretty sure I know the argument I’m making, thanks. I’m the one arguing for a middle ground between the idea that players are entirely formed by the teams that draft them and your contention that any player who becomes a franchise player was immutably destined to become that regardless of any outside influences.

See, here’s what I don’t get. Between last season and now the writers have just piled tragedy after tragedy on Danerys. She saw two of the three creatures she considered children killed violently in front of her(and later had to battle one of their zombie corpses). She lost probably her two best friends, again, to…

The difference in how James and Curry were seen pre-draft is a pretty solid indication of why they shouldn’t be grouped as players who arrived fully formed. James, on the cover of SI at 16 and who probably would have been the #1 pick in the draft at 15 and then won ROY, and Curry who couldn’t get a scholarship offer…

To be honest, I’m just not entirely sure you have a great grasp on how these franchises work. The current GM of the Bucks has been with the team in a senior basketball role since 2009 and would have played a role in the acquisition of every guy on the team. Bob Myers has been with the Warriors since 2011. So he’d have…

You realize in those stretches of time that those teams underwent many different iterations of management and coaches, right? 

I really don’t think I’d attribute the draft success of teams like the Bucks or Raptors or Warriors to luck. Was luck involved? Sure but so was smarts and good development work and coaching and so on.

Sure, the Army of the North is there now. But post King’s Landing when everyone goes home when Danerys is trying to rule 7 disparate kingdoms that don’t know her and there are a bunch of people who know Jon’s secret and seem willing to spread it? Varys’ whole thing was that people would eventually rally to Jon’s claim…