Lose tonight to get 23rd pick, Win gets us as low as 26th pick

[jerrywest]

We need to lose tonight

If we lose we have the 23rd pick. (We have 52 wins)

If we win we could have the 26th pick. (3 teams in the West have 53 wins)- check standing.

No reason to exhaust Josh's groin, JJ's legs, Bibby's body, Craw's toes, Zaza's old hip.

Look at the picks available in the 20s. We need to get the best possible one.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2010mock_draft

Edited April 14, 2010 by jerrywest

[WraithSentinel]

Lucky for us the Cavs are a deeper team. Plus they will want a win heading into the playoffs. Hopefully they beat us like they always do.

[mrhonline]

Phoenix and Utah play each other, so the worst possible spot is 25th. I still agree that a Hawks loss tonight would actually be a good thing.

On the other hand, some solid minutes in a late-game situation for Teague wouldn't hurt, nor would the ability to break that losing streak vs. Cleveland.

[itsslomotionbaby]

i dont know with kentuckys whole starting five entering the draft we bound to get a good draft pick down the line

[spotatl]

For some odd reason the Hawks are 5.5 point favorites even though they have nothing to play for. I have bet pretty heavily against the hawks- to me this is a preseason game and I don't get why the line is so high.

[AHF]

i dont know with kentuckys whole starting five entering the draft we bound to get a good draft pick down the line

Darius Miller isn't entering the draft for what it is worth.

[Endy9]

Don't ever lose for a higher draft pick. That philosophy has been proven to breed nothing but a loser mentality in any sports league. Winning and developing a winning attitude is worth way more than 4 draft spots.

[AHF]

Don't ever lose for a higher draft pick. That philosophy has been proven to breed nothing but a loser mentality in any sports league. Winning and developing a winning attitude is worth way more than 4 draft spots.

Cleveland expresses its regret that it tanked for Lebron.

Orlando expresses its regret that it tanked for Dwight.

Etc.

Not to mention that throwing this last game would do nothing to breed a loser mentality here. The Colts threw a couple of games at the end of the season to rest their starters when they had their position locked. They won a Super Bowl with that philosophy and lost in the Super Bowl last year with that philosophy. Once your playoff position is locked in place, playing your reserves for a game to keep everyone healthy and improve draft status does nothing to harm your team's winning attitude.

[Marvin24Williams]

Lose this game and go 0-4 against the cavs for a higher draft pick? No thanks, kick cleveland to the curb atlanta !

[AHF]

Lose this game and go 0-4 against the cavs for a higher draft pick? No thanks, kick cleveland to the curb atlanta !

If the Hawks players and Cleveland players actually treat this as a real game and carry over confidence/doubt from the result, I am in agreement with this. I just don't expect that to be the case. I expect this to be a blatant example of going through the motions as opposed to the other 3 games against Cleveland.

How is anyone going to view a victory over a Cavs team without Lebron or Shaq as being legit?

Edited April 14, 2010 by AHF

[mrhonline]

Denver and one of Phoenix/Utah.

^^^Those are the teams the Hawks will be tied with in record if they beat Cleveland. A coin flip would determine the actual order...

(Don't wanna see Utah picking before the Hawks. They're amazingly good at drafting).

Edited April 14, 2010 by mrhonline

[TheNorthCydeRises]

Don't ever lose for a higher draft pick. That philosophy has been proven to breed nothing but a loser mentality in any sports league. Winning and developing a winning attitude is worth way more than 4 draft spots.

Totally agree.

This isn't like the difference between picking 3rd and picking 6th . . . or even picking 13th and picking 16th.

When you start picking outside of the lottery, and especially outside of the top 20, you'll find almost all marginal role players . . with very few "diamonds" amongst the group.

I would much rather see the reserves put on a great show and win the game for the fans in attendance tonight . . than for them to lose the game, just to improve our draft position.

[AHF]

If we were one spot higher in the draft last year then we might have Ty Lawson starting for us or at least playing a big role off the bench. I'll take the higher pick over watching our reserves beat Cleveland's reserves in a meaningless game.

[99PROBL3MS]

Don't ever lose for a higher draft pick. That philosophy has been proven to breed nothing but a loser mentality in any sports league. Winning and developing a winning attitude is worth way more than 4 draft spots.

I agree. You play to win the game. There is no such thing as a meaningless game.

[NineOhTheRino]

just pick the tallest guy left

[NineOhTheRino]

Totally agree.

This isn't like the difference between picking 3rd and picking 6th . . . or even picking 13th and picking 16th.

When you start picking outside of the lottery, and especially outside of the top 20, you'll find almost all marginal role players . . with very few "diamonds" amongst the group.

I would much rather see the reserves put on a great show and win the game for the fans in attendance tonight . . than for them to lose the game, just to improve our draft position.

yeah... funny how all that losing has yet to help the Clippers. "You play to win the game!"

[spotatl]

Quincy Pondexter is the guy I currently am highest on for the hawks pick. I think that he is going to fall due to people's misguided attempts to try and hit a home run and will ignore the fact that he is a really really good player already.

At that point in the draft I don't at all believe in drafting for need. To me the whole point should be to get someone you think can play in the league and give yourself options on your roster. One interesting guy to me would be Avery Bradley. I like him in the role of a guy who can play spectacular defense against opposing PG's and knock down open shots. The Hawks wouldn't need him to be a distributing PG and he wouldn't need the ball in his hands. Teague didn't show me nearly enough this season for me to change my draft plans- what they used to acquire him is a sunk cost. I see Bradley as a much better fit for what the team wants to do.

In the second round I do like hte idea of drafting Zoubek- Just as a defense/rebounding guy I think he has value in the second round.

[jerrywest]

yeah... funny how all that losing has yet to help the Clippers. "You play to win the game!"

There is a difference between losing meaningful games and losing meaningless games. I am sure no one here is advocating Hawks to lose meaningful games at this point.

I kind of like the win however, because Teague needed the extra confidence for this playoff. 23rd or 25th pick - Woody won't play him anyway.

[HawksFan87]

u never play to lose lol, that is crazy.

[99PROBL3MS]

There is no such thing as a meaningless game. They still count don't they? 10 years ago players didn't "rest". Orlando played all their guys yesterday. Magic played with HIV and never rested. The whole rest thing is overrated and there is no such thing as a meaningless game.