ToddTT wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

holfresh wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:

holfresh wrote:

Bonn1997 wrote:

holfresh wrote:It's a very weak argument in the sense that it made no difference whether or not they were drafted by that particular team..Divac was traded for Kobe on draft day..It's sheer luck that Shaq wanted to go to LA or the would be no ring..Shaq went to Miami for Wade to win..Wade, Bron, and Bosh could have gone anywhere and won, the fact that Wade was drafted by Miami made no difference because all three were free agents and decided to play on the same team..Could have easily decided on another city..If they all decided Cleveland then you would say Cleveland drafted Bron..It didn't matter in that particular case..It's not hard to admit anything ..U can win by building thru the draft but it's not the only way to build and ultimately win..

Clearly they didn't want to take their talents to Cleveland. It's not just a random 1 in 30 chance that Wade happened to stay in the city that drafted him and even brought to more stars to the city. They picked one of the cities that the three of them were drafted in. It was up to each of the three of them to convince the other two that their city was best, and Miami won out. I'd love to have those 1 in 3 odds. It's much better than the 0% chance that Dolan's starphucking will work.

Dolan had a very similar plan, his problem was picking Donnie to execute that plan...Donnie pick a coach who only knew pick and roll basketball...They signed a guy with bad knees to a 5 year max deal...He got half a season basketball from him...Donnie and his coach is still revered here in circles that despises the owner, go figure...

It can't be considered a "very similar plan" if they key component of the plan I.e. having a superstar still in his prime, attract two other stars/superstars. There's a reason why LeBron and Bosh went to Miami, when they stood to make more money in endorsements in New York.

Yeah, A team that had only one player signed on their books...

AGAIN, two things that are in the ballpark of one another are not inherently have parity. Olivia Munn and Roseanne both have vaginas. It doesn't mean I'd **** the both of them.

Hey! What have you got against Olivia?

Not a damn thing. That woman farts sunshine and happiness, lol.

smackeddog wrote:

NardDogNation wrote:I never thought that the Pacers would be as good as they currently are but they certainly have made me into a believer. What's more impressive is the fact that most of their talent is home-grown; using their picks to select guys that were available to us in those drafts.

In the 2004 draft, the Pacers picked Danny Granger with the 19th pick, while we selected Channing Frye with the 8th pick.

In the 2008 draft, the Pacers picked Roy Hibbert with the 17th pick, while we reached and picked Danilo Gallinari with the 6th pick. They also managed to acquire George Hill from the Spurs a year later who was picked with the 26th pick.

In the 2010 draft, they picked Paul George with the 10th pick. As much as we didn't have a pick, would it have been so far fetch'd to think that the Knicks could have sign and traded David Lee the season before or during the draft for a lottery pick? Meanwhile, in the second round we picked Andy Rautins and Landry Fields with the 38th and 39th pick, while the Pacers picked Lance Stephenson with the 40th pick.

Even some of the players they signed/traded for were available to us in their respective drafts. David West (18th pick), for instance, was available to us in the 2003 draft that we selected Mike Sweetney in (8th pick). In the 2002 draft, we used our 36th pick to select Milos Vujanic with Luis Scola still available (56th pick).

I suppose the point of this story is that we need to do a better job in keeping our picks and making them worth-wild. It just so happens to be one of the few things we do compartively well, which is why I would not be opposed to rebuilding with a slew of picks. We'd need some influx of front office talent to make it all work but it can and should be done. It really is the primary method for building a sustainable contender.

They also drafted Plumlee with the 26th Pick in 2012 (traded him to the Suns though), and he is a very important piece in Pheonix (averaging almost a double double and 2 blocks in 28 mins). Also they could have kept Kawhi Leonard. A very, very good drafting team AND a superb team at developing talent- if we had drafted Paul George, he probably would have ended up like Shump!

And I agree with you about our inability to develop talent. Then again, that talent doesn't stick around long enough for us to see them realize their talent. I suppose it's a bit of a catch-22.