This was a pretty unnecessary panic thread. Glad to see it is retired already.
Oh, come on, Clay. There was a fairly significant chance of the Nets not ending up with sole possession of the worst record in the league, which would open the door for #5.
It was worth discussing, and was by no means a "panic" thread. I felt it was interesting to discuss, because to me it seems like there's a clear top 4 in this draft and after that I'm not sure who I'd take.
Given the fact that not everybody agrees on that top 4, this is still a valid discussion since the Celts could very well end up with pick #3 or 4.
Phosita I really got to disagree with you on this. The Nets are finishing at least 3 full games behind the Suns and at least 4 behind the Lakers. Strictly on math and expected win expectancy it was never higher than a snowball chance in he double hockey stucks. This was pretty much the definition of a panic thread because it overreacted to the Nets stringing some wins together and lost sight of the actual math involved. By the way, in case you are curious both the Suns and Lakers are again considered 50 50 to win their games again tonight. When it gets to the end of the season it becomes near impossible for teams to completely lose out because other teams are resting and not trying either. That is why the premise the Lakers would end the season on a 15 game losing streak and the Nets would start playing .800% ball was panic.
You'll notice I didn't phrase the original post like:
OH MY GOD THE NETS ARE WINNING?!?!?!?!?!?! THE LAKERS AND SUNS ARE GONNA LOSE OUT!!!! WE WON'T GET THE TOP PICK?!!?!!?!?!??!
AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rather, I noticed that things were getting kind a close -- as in, the Nets were only "up" a game or two on the Lakers within something like 10-15 games remaining -- and it seemed at least "plausible" that the Nets might not end up with sole possession of the worst record.
Because of that, it seemed worth talking about the possibility that the Celts might end up at #5. Particularly, I felt it was worth talking about because to me there is a clear cut top 4 in this draft. But what if we don't get a shot at that top 4? Or what if we end up picking 3rd or 4th and Danny has different ideas about who is in that top 4?
In March / April, with not a lot of other things to talk about -- unless you want to entertain another "Should Isaiah be traded?" thread -- I felt like this was something worth a page or two of discussion on the forum.
I know you're generally sensitive about pessimism related to the Nets picks, but calling this a panic thread and panning the entire conversation is a bit extreme, it seems to me.