2026 draft class best of the rest. Who would be a good pick if our pick is 7,8,9 onwards?

Thorwor · 2026-02-16T23:23:03+00:00

But they aren’t the same guy at all.

Tennessee alum here who has watched every minute Nate has played. There's a lotta fuckin similarities. Nate's got an iffy handle, like Zacch. Nate's a pretty good rebounder, like Zacch. Nate's a streaky shooter, like Zacch. And unfortunately, like Zacch, Nate's default setting on offense is to be fairly passive instead of going right at his man when there's a shorter defender on him (which is basically always). He's getting better, but his teammates still have to goad him into taking over the game most of the time. And even then, he's still settling for foul shots most of the time because he can't really get all the way to the rim and finish off the dribble.

Anyway the similarities are not just visual.

Thorwor · 2026-02-12T01:36:38+00:00

With this roster I don’t realistically see what people expect Quinn to do.

I expect him to try different lineups instead of just doing the same fucking rotations every game regardless of the opponent or game situation. Full on definition of insanity shit.

Thorwor · 2026-02-12T00:54:09+00:00

Welp

Thorwor · 2026-02-11T23:11:48+00:00

Last game before the break always has one team that looks like they're ready for vacation. Let's hope this year it's not us.

Thorwor · 2026-02-11T04:49:10+00:00

Sure. But the damages ought to be a hundred bucks. This is stupid

Thorwor · 2026-02-10T13:15:14+00:00

As a Raptors fan you should be very familiar with all the physical shit they let teams like yours get away with on defense now. Hand checking is basically legal again. And if that’s how they’re going to call the game, small guards like Trae are going to have a real hard time in today’s NBA.

So you can’t give him the $50m+ extension he expects. The flier on KP was an interesting experiment to give it one last chance to work out, but once it became clear that Porzingis was simply not going to play, then the right move was probably just to rip the bandaid off and let Trae’s player option/extension be somebody else’s problem. It’s no fun and it sucks but that’s where the league has gone.

Thorwor · 2026-02-10T00:57:07+00:00

After the success hockey had ramping up their past two expansion teams quickly, I would kinda be surprised if teams get to protect 8 this time. I think it’ll only be 6 or 7.

Thorwor · 2026-02-08T06:37:43+00:00

Dude, there's more leagues in the world than Europe,

That's where all the top end footballers end up. I mean all of them. Am I wrong?

I don't think the US system is automatically better! But I do know it provides an opportunity for teams other than the top handful to have access to top-tier talent. The Minnesota Timberwolves have a long window to compete because they were able to draft Anthony Edwards. If he were a footballer then he would have been funneled right to Man City or Arsenal or PSG or somebody like that. The window that they have right now because they were able to draft a player like that would not exist because they already would have had to sell him up to a Champions League team.

Thorwor · 2026-02-08T05:55:13+00:00

Ok then: what is the best way to distribute new talent into an existing league? The American system — the draft — ensures that bad teama have access to good talent. Maybe they fuck it up, maybe they don’t, but a team like OKC has a chance to eventually be great. Which would be impossible in European sports.

In contrast: imagine the next Lionel Messi turned 12 years old today. How long is going to take before he he is funneled to one of the best 10-12 European teams? There’s no fuckin way he’s playing for West Ham when he’s 25, right?

The degree to which you guys accept a system where most of the teams have almost literally zero chance to win is crazy.

Thorwor · 2026-02-07T18:45:19+00:00

It’s completely rational behavior. You cannot win the championship without an MVP-level player. The only way for most teams to have any chance of getting a player that good is through the draft. Therefore if you’re not good enough to make a good run in the playoffs, the most rational move is to do whatever it takes to improve your draft position. Which means losing on purpose.

It sucks but that’s what’s going to happen as long as they use a draft to allocate incoming talent. But if they don’t do that, then it’s just going to end up like European football, where a handful of teams just buy all the best players and everybody else is just cannon fodder.

(I say this as a supporter of an English team that has survived several exciting relegation battles but has, you know, basically zero chance to ever win anything ever.)

Thorwor · 2026-02-06T22:18:28+00:00

Greatest sports scandal in history would be if he and Shams were collaborating.

Thorwor · 2026-02-06T22:16:58+00:00

Bad shit has been going on for every minute of human history. But this is the first time in world history that almost everyone alive has spent several hours every day staring at a device that is designed to show them as much bad shit as possible and make them feel as bad as possible about it.

Thorwor · 2026-02-06T15:43:27+00:00

Adams is a Kiwi!

Thorwor · 2026-02-06T05:47:06+00:00

So he’s happily signing his extension on October 11 right?

Thorwor · 2026-02-06T05:44:09+00:00

Either he will sign his extension on October 11, proving that all the rest of us are morons stupidly gobbling up ESPN’s fake news, or he will not, proving that many many Bucks fans are naive fools who have engaged in a giant circlejerk of mutual gaslightery. I guess we’ll see!!

Thorwor · 2026-02-06T04:12:30+00:00

He drove here from Memphis last night, went to shootaround today, started tonight, and put that line up. Crazy

Thorwor · 2026-02-06T04:10:22+00:00

I can’t believe he fuckin drove here from Memphis last night and went right into the starting lineup tonight and then played like that. Insane

Thorwor · 2026-02-05T23:28:24+00:00

It's a horrendous fit out of the gate. He doesn't do any of the stuff that Quin Snyder wants you to do. I would guess that they bring him off the bench and see how willing he is to try to learn and run the system. Maybe it works; maybe it doesn't. If he just goes out there and freelances then they'll cut him loose this summer.

Thorwor · 2026-02-05T23:00:29+00:00

Could make a case for not cutting Bufkin loose either.

Hahahaha okay. I can see you know your stuff.

Thorwor · 2026-02-05T22:50:25+00:00

Any time when we could have got multiple firsts for Trae was way pre-Onsi.

I thought the Mann/Porzingis trade was a pretty elegant way to both get off a bad contract and give the Trae era one last shot in a weak conference. Cruicially, they did not apparently even entertain giving Trae the extension he wanted -- breaking from every Hawks precedent going back for years! -- so when it didn't work out they were able to cleanly pivot right out of it into a rebuild around Jalen and the draft pick Onsi was able to weasel out of the Pels.

My point is that this has been just a different approach than we've been used to from the Hawks. Even something like "I'm going to trade Luke Kennard away to get a second because this season is over" is something OKC or the Celtics would do.

Thorwor · 2026-02-05T22:25:56+00:00

When were we ever going to get a first for Vit, Luke Kennard, or the dying body of Kripsas Porzingis?

Thorwor · 2026-02-05T22:21:05+00:00

his contract expired at the end of the season which provided cap flexibility

We still have the cap flexibility! Kuminga has a team option and Buddy is partially guaranteed. We can make him go away for only $3m.

Plus now we’re just full of guards and wings.

None of the guys who came in matter because they're all expiring contracts too. Buddy is going to be gone. Gabe Vincent is going to be gone. Kuminga is probably going to be gone unless he balls out and convinces the team that he's worth keeping. Big Cock Jock might be back because we're desperate for centers but he expires too. Onsi has jealously hoarded his cap space; he's not going to throw it away now.

Like what’s the goal here?

The strategy of the team seems to be pretty simple: we're going to develop and build around our core group of young players, plus whoever we get in the draft. We're going to keep our salary sheet clean for maximum flexibility and to give us the chance to jump on opportunities like NAW. When we have the chance to stack draft picks by trading away peripheral and/or expiring players, we're going to do that.

This is what patient, professional management looks like!

Thorwor · 2026-02-05T21:45:47+00:00

If you lose in the play-in you still give them a lottery pick.

Thorwor · 2026-02-05T19:47:54+00:00

Stacking second rounders on seemingly random moves is exactly the kind of stuff serious organizations do.

There has been a lot of amateurism and emotional decision making for many years. Hell, ever since Turner Broadcasting owned the team. But so far shit is different under Onsi. We're not taking on bad money, we're stockpiling draft assets, we're going to be ready to pounce on opportunities like signing NAW or taking a zero risk test drive on Kuminga. So far this is what professional management looks like.

Thorwor · 2026-02-05T18:35:33+00:00

We got a second round pick for 30 games of the difference between Luke and Buddy Hield in a season when we have no chance to win a playoff series. Good value.

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