I think he makes a good point about the last three seasons but not really much thisyear . Presti wants to build a contender not a playoff team….. Two different things! I think now we are a playoff team I can see only one player that will make us a contender(bosh) no one else really… If we can’t get him then why break the bank? David lee is good but won’t do much in terms of contention … Just not dominant on a consistant basis( I.e. Howard) . Presti is not tanking but he’s not gonna get us stuck the was the nuggets are…. I don’t think will ever will a championship.

So, just because our team wants to stay financial sound we are tanking? The Thunder are trying to build a team the right way: through drafting smart and signing cheap quality players who complement the young guns. Just because almost every other NBA team jumps on the opportunity to waste tons of money on idiotic contracts doesn’t mean Presti will follow suit.

I’ll never understand the optimists who insist that teams never tank. I remember that at the end of last year, Craig Humphreys and Bobby Thompson vehemently insisted that the Thunder weren’t tanking at the end of the last year. If you sit your best players in favour of “young talent”, then I call that tanking. Especially when lottery spots were as closely contested as they were. 2 More wins, and we would have leapfrogged Minnesota and Memphis and grabbed the 6th most likely to advance slot. Granted, the Grizzlies had that slot and moved up to 2nd, but that’s beside the point. Lower is better.

Now, I’m not saying that teams start off the season and say, “Alright, lets aim for under 30 wins this year, because we need a pick.” They need some sort of way to make money, and if their team is making a playoff run unexpectedly, then they won’t mess with it. But if you’ve got 20 or less games to go, you’re near the bottom of the standings, and a few wins or losses could drastically alter your lottery chances, throwing in a Robert Swift, a DJ White, a Damien Wilkins, or a Shaun Livingston suddenly seems not so bad. Neither does sitting out a Kevin Durant or a Jeff Green with a sore ankle. Neither does leaving the backups in towards the end of the game and watching your team fall behind on the scoreboard. It’s tanking. There’s no way around it. You can tell me about “preparing these guys for 4th quarter situations” all you want, but when is Shaun Livingston ever gonna be in a NBA 4th quarter situation again? Heck, the only guy who’s still here who was part of that tanking is D.J. White, and it would take a massive slew of injuries, an extraordinary situation, or another case of tanking in order to put him in another NBA 4th quarter situation. I mean, if what we did last year wasn’t tanking, then what is? Do we have to play a roster full of Kevin Willis clones? Or bring Wilt Chamberlain out of his grave to play as a zombie? Or sign me to a 10 Day Contract?

But this year, I don’t think anybody was planning on tanking. The Thunder need to start winning some games to catch the city’s attention, and most of the pieces are in place. They knew they couldn’t have another 20 win season. At the same time, there really wasn’t a lot out there to sign in Free Agency. Who were they supposed to get? Rasheed Wallace? Would that have helped? I think the statement about this year was just poorly thought out by BDL (something which I rarely say).

So, yeah. There’s my 2 cents.

Or sign me to a 10 Day Contract?

Ha! Shoot, they can sign me too. I need the income.