Buddy and I were talking about this, specifically LeBron. No doubt he’s a top-30 player. But given his age, we were debating whether or not he’d be a first-round pick in a league-wide redraft. Which then led to a wider conversation about how you would approach team building if all NBA players were made available.
If my pick isn’t top 5 I’m going young
Unless we do a snake draft, then shit starts to get weird
I would just take the best values I see available and then determine a firm direction at the deadline.
Just pick Jokic and do both. He’ll be great for at least another 7 years or so.
Great answer by u/GregEgg4President. In an all things equal world, I’m taking the best available player and going from there. But who that best available player is does play a part in how you’d move forth. It has to…look at the Wizards. It’s gonna take multiple years realistically for them to realistically get to a playoff level and have already had five straight losing seasons. You have to be realistic about your team and stay one step ahead.
Drafting 1 - 10, you’d have a shot at getting a MVP- type player and when the second pick rolls around, pairing him with an all star. Anything outside that range becomes risky to draft for a win now build.
If this for the 2023-24 season, im building to win now. The worst case scenario is blowing it up in the 25-26 season to pledge allegiance to the Flagg.
It depends who you’re able to get first pick. If you have pick 30 and your win now option is like… Markkanen, then you probably go a little younger and build for the long haul.
Yea, if you aren’t getting a top 10 pick, you might as well go for a youth movement. Don’t have to build to tank, but younger players for sure.
Probably top 5. There’s like 5 players who are changing teams from contender to just good
Counterpoints are guys like Jimmy, KD and LeBron. Not consensus Top 5, but you can certainly feel like you’ve got a shot if they’re your best guy (with a reasonably strong supporting cast)
Depends where I pick. The earlier the pick, the easier it would be to build a win now. If I’m picking 30, I’m picking high ceiling young players because no shot the 30th best player is enough to win now. Even with a snake draft where I pick 30 and 31.
Assuming it’s not a snake draft, no way is someone drafting LeBron at like 15 then trying to pair him with like pick 45. Could see the argument for 28 and 33, but at that point, you probably go with a spicier prospect like Cade or something
But if all the teams with the lower draft position pick for the future, more talent that’s ready to win now will fall into the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rounds.
Depends where Im drafting
All i am imagining right now is how many stars would try to team up and how many of them would be like I aint going to X team and playing LOL
The reason “win now” can work is because 1/2 the teams are out of contention before the season starts.
If all 30 teams draft from scratch right now, the 30 teams would be much more balanced – making “win now” very difficult.
It would be smarter to build for the future.
However, if everyone thought that, the meta would be to draft for win now I suppose. But I expect most owners would be trying for big names now, so I’d still go future.
Yeah it’s an interesting question because the optimal strategy depends on what the other GMs perceive the optimal strategy to be. Which then begs the question: would it be better to pick later (say 10th) so that you can see which way the first 9 picks, vs picking first and having less information to go off of?
Depends if I can get Wemby or not
scoot vs jabari vs Evan mobley vs Lamelo would be a fun assessment of the number three pick over the past few years
Can do both with a lot of the young talent. Luka Tatum SGA Booker are all very good now and still young. I would shoot for somewhat competitive if possible. You can’t pull a full Hinkie and have a bunch of young dudes just running around out there.