Anon GM Admits tanking...is it Ainge (merged)

[D.o.s.]

My only question is how long with this "Anonymous GM" remain "Anonymous" before the reporter gives up his name to the league for a nice payday, which the league will then make up by fining the jewels off the said GM.

[Who]

Utah

[Kane3387]

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/9893551/anonymous-nba-gm-why-team-tank-season-espn-magazine

OUR TEAM ISN'T good enough to win and we know it. So this season we want to develop and evaluate our young players, let them learn from their mistakes -- and get us in position to grab a great player. The best way for us to do that is to lose a lot of games. This draft is loaded. There are potential All-Stars at the top, maybe even franchise changers. Sometimes my job is to understand the value of losing.

I know that sounds crazy, but if you're an NBA general manager like me, the last place you want to be is in the middle. There are only two outcomes there: Either make the playoffs and be first-round fodder for one of the premier teams or miss the playoffs and pick somewhere around 11th to 14th in the draft. Either way, the odds are that you stay in that middle range. It's a recipe for disaster.

You need superstars to compete in this league, and the playing field for those guys is tilted toward a few big-market teams. They are demanding trades and getting together and deciding where they want to go in free agency. It's tough for us to compete with that. So a high lottery pick is all we have.

How do you pull it off? First, you talk it over with ownership. I analyzed the team and told them what I wanted to do, the guys I wanted to get rid of and the guys with future value whom we wanted to keep. We obviously traded away some of our veteran guys who gave us a better chance of winning right now for future draft picks and young players. The owners didn't want to tread water any more than I did. They'd rather go down to the bottom with the hope of coming up, so they signed off on it. It wasn't a fight at all. In a different season, it might not make sense, but this draft certainly makes it more appealing.
Our coach understands that too. It's no secret what we're trying to do, and you can't lie to him anyway or you'll lose all trust. We never really had to tell him, because the handwriting is on the wall. He knows exactly what's going on, and he's good with it. What's hard is keeping it from the players. If you took a poll in all 30 locker rooms, regardless of how the roster looks, I bet they'd all say they are a playoff team. That's good, because you want them to play with effort and lose organically. You never tell the players not to try to win a game, but it's obvious that you're putting out a team that's just not good enough to win.

We're not alone. Look at the 76ers. Since the draft in June, I don't think they've signed a player or made a trade to add a legitimate player. A bunch of us realize that our teams aren't good enough talentwise to do anything. You're going to be bad. There's no way around it. And even if you finish 0-82, there's still a 75 percent chance you don't get the No. 1 pick. We're just going to take our lumps and hope our number gets called.

Looking at the Bold above in order.

Danny has said this season the plan is to develop our young talent and not tank. Uh Wahtever.

This team traded their veterans for picks and prospects... Brooklyn Trade?

The coach is cool with it.. Stevens has had the company line down all year.

It's not Philly.

For those with Insider there is a Tank Rank.

While the Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets (among others) are in the running for the ultimate prize -- an NBA championship -- other teams are gunning for something else this season: a 25 percent chance of landing the top prospect in the 2014 NBA draft.
In other words, they want to lose and lose a lot. A number of teams want the best odds of winning the NBA Draft Lottery next May.

NBA GMs are calling the next draft the best in a decade. Headlined by Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins and Kentucky big man Julius Randle, this season's lottery should be loaded with players who have the potential to turn around franchises.

This season I will document the race to the bottom. For some teams this means flat-out Tanking. In other words they aren't really trying to win this season. Teams like the Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns fit this category. They are fielding teams that barely qualify for the NBA.

For others, perhaps the proper term is "rebuilding." They will try to win on some nights, but the primary focus will be on developing the young players they already have. The Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic seem to fit this mold.

And there are a few teams on this list that hope to make the playoffs -- they just aren't very good. The Charlotte Bobcats, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers could be the poster children for those types of teams this season.

Regardless of the motivation, the winner of this season's worst record (yeah, I get the irony) should have a shot at a transformational player. As part of Tank Rank, we'll also keep tabs on the talent available. So if you're a Boston Celtics fan, for instance, you'll get updates on the kind of player that might be wearing green in 2014.

Here's a look at where the 10 worst teams in the NBA stand in their quest for the No. 1 pick in the draft.

The Celtics rank third behind Phoenix and Philly for best job at trying to tank.

The Celtics spent the summer dismantling a team that was a perennial title contender. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are both gone and GM Danny Ainge has gone into full rebuilding (he says) or Tanking (I say) mode.

The Celtics are a far cry from the Suns or Sixers. When he gets healthy, point guard Rajon Rondo remains an All-Star-caliber player. Rondo says he's about 87 percent of the way there, but doesn't have a timetable for his return. Ainge says that Rondo will be part of the Celtics' future, but many GMs think he's available for the right price and the Celtics are just trying to get him healthy again. Veterans like Jeff Green, Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries and Courtney Lee lend credibility to the squad. But Celtics fans know that none of these players, with the possible exception of Rondo and Green, are in it for the long haul with the Celtics. All of them could be wearing different uniforms by February.

That leaves young players like Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger as the Celtics' young cornerstones of the future. They'll all carry a significant load for the team this season, but it's doubtful that even with a coach as promising as Brad Stevens, they'll be able to put many W's in the win column this season.

In order here are the Tank Rank rankings.

1. Suns
2. Sixers
3. Celtics
4. Magic
5. Kings
6. Bobcats
7. Jazz
8. Fakers
9. Raptors
10. Bucks

[Kane3387]

Ooops didn't know this was made...

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:9897568

[action781]

In order here are the Tank Rank rankings.

1. Suns - it could be them, traded away gortat and got a pick, but not multiple picks.
2. Sixers - it could be them.  traded jrue for noel and a future pick.  last paragraph could be a facade.
3. Celtics - probably the team this GM most closely describes as they traded veterans and got back draft picks (plural).
4. Magic - don't think they traded any vets
5. Kings - don't think they traded any vets
6. Bobcats - don't think they traded any vets
7. Jazz - could be them.  got a bunch of draft picks for taking on jefferson and biedrins
8. Fakers - didnt trade any vets
9. Raptors - didnt trade any vets
10. Bucks - i dont think they got any draft picks in the jennings deal

[indeedproceed]

I think it's the Suns. Traded Dudley and Butler, then Gortat. I just don't see Ainge being this candid.

[Snakehead]

I think it's the Suns. Traded Dudley and Butler, then Gortat. I just don't see Ainge being this candid.

I don't see Ainge wanting to risk his neck, so yes I agree.

[Galeto]

I think it's the Suns. Traded Dudley and Butler, then Gortat. I just don't see Ainge being this candid.

Only thing is, what's the definition of treading water?  I think part of it has to be hanging around .500.  Phoenix doesn't have to sink to the bottom since they were already there.  Further, besides the Gortat trade, I think they made one of the best acquisitions in Bledsoe.  They might have improved their team.

Another thing is, the Gortat trade happened a few days ago.  I can't imagine Goodman got this all set up for publication over the past few days.

If this is Ainge, it would make me happy.  Let's have a true, committed rebuild for once.  No trading Joe Johnson for Rodney Rodgers, a future first rounder for Potapenko, bringing in guys like Ricky Davis.  If it doesn't work out, well, the NBA can be fickle, there are no guarantees but if it's managed properly, it could be loads of fun.

[Mazingerz]

I think it's the Suns. Traded Dudley and Butler, then Gortat. I just don't see Ainge being this candid.

I don't see Ainge wanting to risk his neck, so yes I agree.

I can still remember the blatant, very visible tanking done during the M.L. Carr coaching regime; Duncan was not given to us by the league;

I guess Danny is not this stupid; And knowing him, he keeps his cards close to his chest when dealing and speaking with the media;

My best bet would be the 76ers (i know there is a reference there during the interview but i bet its a smokescreen);

[get_banners]

philly is the most blatant tank team this year - the comment that they might sit noel the entire season (when, from all accounts, he's doing pretty well in his recovery) is maybe the most telling. that being said, i think the tank talk is overblown. one, its still a crapshoot (which i really don't like) re: where you pick. two, i think most teams are being smart in trading for assets when they aren't a playoff team (the suns and celtics made smart trades this offseason - we rarely see a florida marlins blatant tank job in the NBA). three, most teams need to evaluate young players, and if you're not making the playoffs, why not play them a lot and see what they have? yes, it will probably cost you some games, but its the smart move...from the player development side, not the tanking side. tanking DOES happen (us in 1997, the spurs in 1997, the wolves in KG's last year there, etc.), but it doesn't happen as often as people say it does.

[RockinRyA]

Moving Marion for Shaq was a really bad move, moving on from Marion after that season would have been fine. But Kerr fell for wanting to make the team "his" too soon.

Joe Johnson move and other cheapskate related maneuvers made that window far tighter than it needed to be.

shouldve fired D'Antoni before getting shaq

[Moranis]

The Suns are a joke.  They have given away good/great players every year for like 6 consecutive years.  They were stacked with players in there primes and they have nothing to show for it.  If any team didn't need to go this route, it's the Suns.

No they weren't.  They had a nice little run, the run ended, they tried to do the fast rebuild and signed a lot of lesser players to contracts they shouldn't have and paid the price for it.  They should have just gone into tank mode when Amare, Nash, and Marion got old rather than doing the stuff they did.

Amare and Marion were never old when they were on the Suns.  Neither were Joe Johnson, Diaw, and Barbosa.

The Suns also have a notoriously cheap owner who ruined some of their chance to contend.  Not worth defending that guy.

Amare had 1 good year after he left and would have hamstrung any franchise with his awful contract.  Marion had tailed off dramatically so they moved him for Shaq in one last ditch effort to try and compete with the old guard.  As for Johnson, he wanted #1 money on a team he was the 4th option, hard to justify paying him and because he was restricted they were able to get a fairly nice haul for him (Diaw and 2 firsts which happened to be Rajon Rondo and Robin Lopez).  That isn't to say Sarver wasn't a cheapskate.  He was, maybe the worst one in all of sports, but I have time faulting him for those particular moves.

With Amare's injury and Marion moving on (agree on that), JJ would've moved up to 1st-2nd option pretty quickly, but with a good support squad around him of somewhat diminished players (Amare, Marion, and later Nash).  If they'd have paid him, and the tax, for the short term, they'd probably have been better off.  They could've been the Pistons of the West, solid, deep, and a conference contender every year.

Exactly.

Joe Johnson move was not defensible.  If you're contender, you want Joe Johnson as your 2nd option.  You have to pay him but he's worth it and that's a strong team.

Yeah.  Their misjudgment was probably that the guys ahead of him would stay ahead of him.  They didn't for long in their careers.

But that was the thing, Amare and Marion were still in their mid-20's at that time and Nash was winning MVP's.  No one could have predicted how fast they would disappear and Diaw was quite good for Phoenix (not to mention 2 firsts which became Rajon Rondo and Robin Lopez).  It was a solid trade given their positioning (it also opened up room for Barbosa who basically was a smaller version of Joe Johnson).  The year after Johnson left, Phoenix went back to the WCF without Amare.  Amare's injuries is what destroyed Phoenix.

Sarver and Phoenix made a ton of moves motivated solely by money that didn't make sense (like selling the Rajon Rondo draft pick), paying your 4th option that kind of money (especially with the poison pill Atlanta put in it) just didn't make a lot of sense and a lot of teams would have done exactly the same thing that Phoenix did.

[moiso]

The Suns are a joke.  They have given away good/great players every year for like 6 consecutive years.  They were stacked with players in there primes and they have nothing to show for it.  If any team didn't need to go this route, it's the Suns.

No they weren't.  They had a nice little run, the run ended, they tried to do the fast rebuild and signed a lot of lesser players to contracts they shouldn't have and paid the price for it.  They should have just gone into tank mode when Amare, Nash, and Marion got old rather than doing the stuff they did.

Amare and Marion were never old when they were on the Suns.  Neither were Joe Johnson, Diaw, and Barbosa.

The Suns also have a notoriously cheap owner who ruined some of their chance to contend.  Not worth defending that guy.

Amare had 1 good year after he left and would have hamstrung any franchise with his awful contract.  Marion had tailed off dramatically so they moved him for Shaq in one last ditch effort to try and compete with the old guard.  As for Johnson, he wanted #1 money on a team he was the 4th option, hard to justify paying him and because he was restricted they were able to get a fairly nice haul for him (Diaw and 2 firsts which happened to be Rajon Rondo and Robin Lopez).  That isn't to say Sarver wasn't a cheapskate.  He was, maybe the worst one in all of sports, but I have time faulting him for those particular moves.

With Amare's injury and Marion moving on (agree on that), JJ would've moved up to 1st-2nd option pretty quickly, but with a good support squad around him of somewhat diminished players (Amare, Marion, and later Nash).  If they'd have paid him, and the tax, for the short term, they'd probably have been better off.  They could've been the Pistons of the West, solid, deep, and a conference contender every year.

Exactly.

Joe Johnson move was not defensible.  If you're contender, you want Joe Johnson as your 2nd option.  You have to pay him but he's worth it and that's a strong team.

Yeah.  Their misjudgment was probably that the guys ahead of him would stay ahead of him.  They didn't for long in their careers.

But that was the thing, Amare and Marion were still in their mid-20's at that time and Nash was winning MVP's.  No one could have predicted how fast they would disappear and Diaw was quite good for Phoenix (not to mention 2 firsts which became Rajon Rondo and Robin Lopez).  It was a solid trade given their positioning (it also opened up room for Barbosa who basically was a smaller version of Joe Johnson).  The year after Johnson left, Phoenix went back to the WCF without Amare.  Amare's injuries is what destroyed Phoenix.

Sarver and Phoenix made a ton of moves motivated solely by money that didn't make sense (like selling the Rajon Rondo draft pick), paying your 4th option that kind of money (especially with the poison pill Atlanta put in it) just didn't make a lot of sense and a lot of teams would have done exactly the same thing that Phoenix did.

I don't recall Rondo playing for the Suns.  They unloaded the Rondo pick for another future pick so they could put off paying a salary.  Also they traded Bell and Diaw for Jason Richardson who they traded for Vince Carter who they waived.  Every year they have reduced their assets.  I don't see how this is debatable.

I don't have a problem with them tanking for the 2014 draft, it just shouldn't have taken 6 years to do it.