ytownfootball wrote:
Fly4Fun wrote:The Cavs are more the exception than the rule... look at teams like the Clippers... an excellent example of rewarding failure (and no one from the front office really takes the fall). Encourage teams to better themselves by rewarding better play/management with the better picks.
The Patriots did a pretty nice job of building their team through the draft and had a good run also. They managed their picks well and is a perfect example of using them correctly.
But I'm still interested to know if you're assuming managements #1 priority is winning?
Yes, I'm assuming the #1 priority should be winning. But that goes into a whole other disagreement that I think too many franchises run it to make money first and maybe win second. I think those goals should be equal. This theme comes up in a lot of my disagreements with how franchises are run (for example fancy new stadiums being built that out price a lot of their fan base and ending up with half filled stadiums, ie Yankees).
darbypitcher22 wrote:
its very tough to prove a team tanked it on purpose. You're never going to get someone on the team or in the front office to admit to it if they did. I like the theory but very tough to prove
You don't have to prove it, and I agree it would be hard to prove. But you'd be kidding yourself and you've never thought a team (not just players but front office/coaches) weren't completely giving it their all for a better position in the draft.
NNN wrote:
The draft exists to maintain competitive balance, not to reward ineptitude.
I think the NHL has a good lottery system. The non-playoff teams are thrown into the lottery, and the team that wins moves up a maximum of four spots. It's possible for a team to tank and still not get the top pick.
Yes, drafts aren't meant to be a reward system for bad teams... but that is how it works. The prize (high picks/top tier athletes) are a reward for doing poorly. It gives front office the feeling it's okay to do poorly because you can improve in a simple way... but it's funny that more often than not some franchises generally do better than others. Some get it some don't (Clippers vs. Lakers).
When you have a system that rewards poor results... don't be surprised when some entities continue to produce poor results... it's basic learning behavior.
