2016 and 2017 most desired by GMs to start a team. Guess the player.

[Kblaze8855]

Of course the answer is below. Just take a second to think who it would be.

Back to back seasons in the gm survey….won the vote for who they would most want to start a franchise. Won both years comfortably.

Got a name in your head? Scroll down for the answer…

















.













.










…












2016

If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the NBA, who would it be?
1. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota – 48.3%
2. Kevin Durant, Golden State – 20.7%
3. LeBron James, Cleveland – 17.2%
Also receiving votes: Stephen Curry, Golden State; Anthony Davis, New Orleans; Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio; Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City



2017

If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the NBA, who would it be?
1. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota – 29%
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee – 21%
3. LeBron James, Cleveland – 18%
4. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio – 14%
5. Kevin Durant, Golden State – 11%
Also receiving votes: Stephen Curry, Golden State; Anthony Davis, New Orleans
Last year: (http://www.nba.com/gmsurvey/2016#players) Karl-Anthony Towns – 48%


https://www.hostpic.org/images/2303120305460337.jpeg

[imdaman99]

I remember watching a few rookie games of KAT. I was impressed, he even played some defense against the Warriors and they upset them. I was like damn this guy is gonna be on top of a mountain by himself. But then I also saw him against the Knicks and how he badly outplayed Porzingis, yet the Knicks beat them both times. My point is he usually has pretty numbers, but I wasn't sure about his impact. I saw teams pick on him on defense and bully him off his position in the post, I think it was the Rockets in the playoffs and knew he had to figure out how to get a mean streak... which is not taking 3 after 3 after 3. The same shit the greats get on Embiid about.

The conclusion is that KAT is not him. It's still early in his career so he can toughen up.

[SouBeachTalents]

I would've guessed Curry.

[Kblaze8855]

He’s one of the most unique talents in history but….

https://www.hostpic.org/images/2303120338510340.jpeg



By the way…has any single photo done more to harm the reputation of a basketball player?

Maybe the misleading Lebron/JJ one people say showed he wouldn’t post him up(even though that play was a charge when Lebron actually backed him down).

Has to be one of those.

[Kblaze8855]

I would've guessed Curry.


Curry or maybe AD due to age.

Steph was 26 and fresh off his unanimous mvp year.

[SouBeachTalents]

He’s one of the most unique talents in history but….

https://www.hostpic.org/images/2303120338510340.jpeg



By the way…has any single photo done more to harm the reputation of a basketball player?

Maybe the misleading Lebron/JJ one people say showed he wouldn’t post him up(even though that play was a charge when Lebron actually backed him down).

Has to be one of those.
Cousins makes for some hilarious photos

https://www.wildcatworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/chris-paul-demarcus-cousins1.jpg

[NBAGOAT]

Yea I can see why. Kat was a defensive prospect, okafor was the offensive guy. Then he showed that skill on offense his 1st 2 years, he was looking like a 2 way beast in his prime

[Jasper]

gobert over Kat ....

yesterday vs today

Kat doesn't know how to be tough and want a awin ..no matter what . It is MN's DNA.

[Wardell Curry]

Most NBA GMs are not good at their jobs.

[999Guy]

And now he is one of the best trade baits in the league. Him, Ayton, Lavine, Beal and Siakam are all guaranteed to give you more value than what they give you on court if you trade them.

Carmelo Anthony level “stars”.

[ArbitraryWater]

Thats pretty crazy.

I was thinking it would have to be Bron or Curry.

[Gohan]

And now he is one of the best trade baits in the league. Him, Ayton, Lavine, Beal and Siakam are all guaranteed to give you more value than what they give you on court if you trade them.

Carmelo Anthony level “stars”.

Nah carmelo was much better. If twolves had carmelo instead of towns they upset grizz

[999Guy]

Nah carmelo was much better. If twolves had carmelo instead of towns they upset grizz

After what? His 40% shooting performance from the field with shit defense and no passing?

You realize Carmelo Anthony has never had a playoff series as good as the one Edwards just had against Denver?


The OP of this thread took bandwidth and brain energy to actually argue with me that 09 Carmelo Anthony, at a ****ing glance, would impact a team as well as 09 LeBron James. That the things an NBA defense and offense has to do to begin to deal with athletic peak LeBron is so low level on its difference compared to Carmelo Anthony that the 09 Nuggets would have gone zero games further with the best version of LeBron in place of a version of Carmelo Anthony that pretty much only thrived at actually attempting shots.


It is probably the single worst serious basketball opinion I have ever seen. But it goes to show you how dumb you get to be when the average fan thinks PPG is 90% of the game and how you impact the game. And what horrible is even by PPG LeBron blows Carmelo away. Scoring is Carmelo's THING, and LeBron can score with way more pressure on a defenses ability to function(at rim), against far better defenses, on much higher volumes, and actually makes his teammates better in the process. But there's no actual real world difference with them in each others places. Lol, that's some shit I would've actually fathomed when I was in 5th grade and I wanted to be like Iverson because of his crossover.

[FultzNationRISE]

He’s the inheritor of Kevin Love’s “stats without an impact” legacy in Minnesota.

[97 bulls]

Of course the answer is below. Just take a second to think who it would be.

Back to back seasons in the gm survey….won the vote for who they would most want to start a franchise. Won both years comfortably.

Got a name in your head? Scroll down for the answer…

















.













.










…












2016

If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the NBA, who would it be?
1. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota – 48.3%
2. Kevin Durant, Golden State – 20.7%
3. LeBron James, Cleveland – 17.2%
Also receiving votes: Stephen Curry, Golden State; Anthony Davis, New Orleans; Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio; Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City



2017

If you were starting a franchise today and could sign any player in the NBA, who would it be?
1. Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota – 29%
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee – 21%
3. LeBron James, Cleveland – 18%
4. Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio – 14%
5. Kevin Durant, Golden State – 11%
Also receiving votes: Stephen Curry, Golden State; Anthony Davis, New Orleans
Last year: (http://www.nba.com/gmsurvey/2016#players) Karl-Anthony Towns – 48%


https://www.hostpic.org/images/2303120305460337.jpeg

How can I get access to GM surveys in the past?

[tpols]

OPs post kinda highlights the whole appeal to authority logical fallacy. So basically the majority of GMs are really really bad evaluators of talent if they'd take KAT over guys like Lebron, Curry, Kawhi, Durant, Butler, shit... even Giannis. A random fan could've gave better answers.

[Wardell Curry]

OPs post kinda highlights the whole appeal to authority logical fallacy. So basically the majority of GMs are really really bad evaluators of talent if they'd take KAT over guys like Lebron, Curry, Kawhi, Durant, Butler, shit... even Giannis. A random fan could've gave better answers.

"These are serious people with serious jobs" is probably all you'll get out of OP even though yes this is a prime example of the fact that most nba executives are bad at their jobs despite getting hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to do said jobs.

This was posted on reddit within the last few days but...

https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/when-former-ncaa-coach-fooled-entire-sports-journalism-community-spite-creating-fictional-six-foot-eight-player-ivan-renko

Bobby Knight created a fake recruit out of thin air and you still had "expert scouts" giving detailed profiles of a guy that doesn't even exist.

The simple fact of the matter is an alarming number of people skirt through life on confidence aka fraud despite their overwhelming ignorance.

[Kblaze8855]

OPs post kinda highlights the whole appeal to authority logical fallacy. So basically the majority of GMs are really really bad evaluators of talent if they'd take KAT over guys like Lebron, Curry, Kawhi, Durant, Butler, shit... even Giannis. A random fan could've gave better answers.

it does nothing even close to that. The absolute fact that some groups of people know more about a subject than other groups does not mean those people know the future. Nor does it mean there is agreement amongst themselves. So many parts of this issue are so misunderstood I feel it borders on intentional just for the sake of arguing. I know dude who posted above me has been repeating the same shit in multiple topics apparently trying to get my attention so I will talk to him about it for a few months. I suppose he thinks if he keeps mentioning me I’ll have the same long debate over that was boring the first time. He’s gonna be disappointed.

As I told you recently, I eventually just disregard people I can tell aren’t even trying to understand what’s being said to them and why. Especially when the points made are already addressed before they even get involved.

Im not explaining why “So Horry>Jordan?” is stupid in an argument about why id value being a winner and I’m not explaining why having additional information on a subject doesn’t make one clairvoyant or infallible.

The answer to some questions are so obvious I feel that to address them seriously is just wasting words. And coming from me that’s saying something. Because I will waste the **** out of a word if I’m bored.

I’m very comfortable admitting that somebody who coaches a team knows more about that team than I do from watching it occasionally on TV. Some people are apparently opposed to that idea if they feel it threatens the credibility of some argument, but I’ve grown out of caring if anybody here thinks I know what I’m talking about. I would just like more information about subjects that interest me. At the beginning of that search is acknowledging that there is information you lack in the first place.

Some groups of people know more about subjects than I do. Maybe some of you consider yourselves the ultimate authority on basketball, and are offended by the idea a higher level of knowledge could even exist, but that just isn’t me. If somebody has something to teach me I’m going to sit here and listen to it.

Its my pleasure in fact.

My knowledge is incomplete and I’d like to work on it. Hard to do if I can’t acknowledge there are people who know things I don’t.

[1987_Lakers]

When Jerry West drafted Vlade Divac I remember him saying the Lakers didn't even do much scouting on him, of course teams do more homework now, but even now there isn't an exact science to how good a player will become.

[Kblaze8855]

When Jerry West drafted Vlade Divac I remember him saying the Lakers didn't even do much scouting on him, of course teams do more homework now, but even now there isn't an exact science to how good a player will become.


never will be. Drafting and projections will always be a crapshoot not a matter of if you fundamentally understand your sport. You look at a guy like Steph Curry. The Warriors drafted him, but that doesn’t mean they really understood how good he could become either. When they traded for Bogut, they offered the Bucks Curry in the deal and it ended up being Ellis instead. Different people will give you different reasons why curry was removed from the deal, but the fact is even the Warriors after having him in their building, didn’t see him as untouchable in a trade for a middling starter big.

some years, the way it shakes out you could throw darts at a draft board and do as well as people who live the game. Between injury and hitting attitude issues and coaching changes and league changes and 1000 other factors? It’s virtually impossible to know who is going to be great in five or 10 years. You just do your best.

[Wardell Curry]

That's fine. You go ahead and let half of the league executives "teach you" why KAT is the top centerpiece to build a team around and I'll go ahead and sit over here and use my own brain and believe that's wrong.

Don't get me wrong, there's no doubt they have access to far more information than me or you or anyone else here.

That doesn't mean that they're evaluating it properly or that they understand what they're seeing because most of them clearly do not most of the time.

This argument has always boiled down to the fact that their word shouldn't be taken as gospel simply because of the positions they hold. This is what it's really all about and it's a point you likely will never move off of. And you're wrong, and that's fine.



This isn't applied mathematics. This isn't plumbing. This isn't electrical work.

This is something that gets broadcast on TV throughout the year for thousands upon thousands of hours and a dedicated enough fan absolutely can pick up on stuff that a substantial number of league executives who are not dedicated that are frauds can not pick up on. Doesn't mean that a higher percentage of dedicated fans are more often correct than most NBA GMs. The whole point is that their word should not be taken as gospel nor should it ever really be used as an argument for supporting or discounting a stance. That's it. A lot of them are bad at their jobs. A lot of former all time great players have horrible opinions that are bordering on factually incorrect. Point blank period.

I would have thought MJ, probably the best player ever, dumpster firing multiple league offices for over 20 years would have taught you that, guess not.

[FultzNationRISE]

In fairness to the GM’s, a lot of people at that time assumed Lebron was on his last legs, and probably that Curry wouldnt be too far behind. Conventional wisdom has been that stars dont stay stars past their early 30s, unless they take a two year sabbatical in their prime.

So it wouldnt be unreasonable at the time not to start a franchise with 32 year old Lebron or 30 year old Curry (or whatever age they were). Of course you still DO take Lebron no matter what, even right now today you start a franchise around him, if for no other reason to say Lebron played for your franchise, and you can hang his jersey from the rafters even if he was only there for 1 season at 39 years old.

But I can also see the decision to go with someone younger. Altho it is surprising how much consensus there was that “KAT” was that someone.

[ILLsmak]

It's just people out-thinking themselves. Plus it has to be a young guy, so it probably turned some gears. The funny thing is the assumption is that if you get a young guy that he's gonna stay. Really, a smart GM would want a guy you could get for sure like 4-5 years out of haha. Then go from there.

-Smak

[Jasper]

I remember the Bucks front office , saying not only we want good representation , but also solid character , and desire.

MN never looked into KAt's DNA.
That or Minny' s DNA is we want to continue losing , or we really don't care, and our players will learn that.

Front office picks the players ... so Minny's research did not go deep enough IMO.

[999Guy]

And now he is one of the best trade baits in the league. Him, Ayton, Lavine, Beal and Siakam are all guaranteed to give you more value than what they give you on court if you trade them.

Carmelo Anthony level “stars”.

I guarantee you someone in Minny’s front office was dying to trade Towns as soon as they got Gobert. They just pulled the trigger after he obviously sabotaged a really good team last year against DAL in the WCF.


One of the highest level FO moves in years even though it’s pretty late.

[Monta Ellis MVP]

Front office guys have gotten better about this but they still can’t quite get “he had all the physical tools, we just need to change his mentality (or work on his skill set). The whole “You can’t teach size” type of thinking.

What is coming more and more evident is, changing KAT’s mindset is just as far fetched as Isaiah Thomas growing 6 inches overnight. It’s very wishful thinking to say the least. There has been a bit of a shift not going as hard on athletic freak prospects/projects but with KAT it was even more seductive, he had the size, he had the skills, all was missing was the dog. We would like to think we can work on it and develop that mindset but in the end if we are being candid we are all to an extent a prisoner to our genes, and mentality is a direct extension of that.

Improvement is possible but i’m a fundamental level at some point you are who you are.

[Naero]

I'm honestly not too surprised since I remember the KAT hype at the time. He was dominant offensively right out of the gate, and we figured he'd get it together on the other end since he was considered a great defensive prospect back then. Hell, I even remember tossing around his name in "future BITW" discussions.

Then the 2017-18 season unfolded, and his reputation nosedived like his playoffs production that year. Preseason, some pegged the Timberwolves as one of the best non-Warriors teams out West, and they turned out to be first-round fodder in large part because KAT failed to take the next step on both ends.

Hindsight bias aside, though, not many found KAT an outrageous pick when this was released. He was considered one of the better up-and-comers, and people were skeptical how many elite years the game's already-established BITWs—LeBron, KD, and Curry—had ahead of them.

[Im Still Ballin]

Front office guys have gotten better about this but they still can’t quite get “he had all the physical tools, we just need to change his mentality (or work on his skill set). The whole “You can’t teach size” type of thinking.

What is coming more and more evident is, changing KAT’s mindset is just as far fetched as Isaiah Thomas growing 6 inches overnight. It’s very wishful thinking to say the least. There has been a bit of a shift not going as hard on athletic freak prospects/projects but with KAT it was even more seductive, he had the size, he had the skills, all was missing was the dog. We would like to think we can work on it and develop that mindset but in the end if we are being candid we are all to an extent a prisoner to our genes, and mentality is a direct extension of that.

Improvement is possible but i’m a fundamental level at some point you are who you are.


I'm honestly not too surprised since I remember the KAT hype at the time. He was dominant offensively right out of the gate, and we figured he'd get it together on the other end since he was considered a great defensive prospect back then. Hell, I even remember tossing around his name in "future BITW" discussions.

Then the 2017-18 season unfolded, and his reputation nosedived like his playoffs production that year. Preseason, some pegged the Timberwolves as one of the best non-Warriors teams out West, and they turned out to be first-round fodder in large part because KAT failed to take the next step on both ends.

Hindsight bias aside, though, not many found KAT an outrageous pick when this was released. He was considered one of the better up-and-comers, and people were skeptical how many elite years the game's already-established BITWs—LeBron, KD, and Curry—had ahead of them.

Good posts.