[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

The Clippers made a Hershel Walker trade with them and that helped. A lot. It netted them SGA and Jalen Williams (and more, though they make so many trades, some of that's hard to track).

Then they picked a good year to suck and the lotto balls fell their way to get the 2nd overall pick in a 2 player draft to land Chet.

They've missed plenty. Mann, Jaquez and Jones were pretty much nothingburgers for them. But they just got so damn many picks when Presti blew it up that they just kept swinging and with an average hit rate managed to do pretty well for themselves.

And i think they're pretty well coached. I mean Hartenstein is a nothing of a ballplayer having a great year because he's in a great situation. Jaylin Williams is an efficient player because they use him in a specific role. Wiggins is pretty similar though I could see him being decent with higher volume (just nowhere near this efficient).

Dortz is a JAG but he was a JAG that didn't cost them anything to speak of so that's a good get. Wallace is another nice fit in that they were able to get a nice defensive wing for but he was essentially a lottery pick (swapped with the Mavericks and took him).

They just had so much capital that when you combine that with a superstar that fell in their laps in SGA, they're gonna have a really good team.

Dort's defense is elite and Wallace's is very good. I think that side of the ball often gets overlooked. Regarding the draft, on draft night, I was THRILLED they took Lively and then disappointed when that pick was moved for Wallace, although he's turned out fine. I also never understood moving Sengun, as I loved him as a draft day pickup as well.

Regarding Chet, that feels like revisionist history. Most folks assumed the Thunder would go with Jabari Smith, as he had been mentioned as the #1 overall pick. Hell, most were shocked the Magic took Banchero over both.

J Dub was an incredible pick, as most folks had little idea who he even was.