[EricaLubarsky]

Shoot for the playoffs and if we fail, so be it, but trying is going to be much better for our future than tanking the next 64 games so that we can use our one first-rounder when draft picks almost never pan out for the team that drafts them. San Antonio has a handful of exceptions but teams rarely score a star and when they do the player often does not blossom on the team that drafted them.

Plus, it may sound counter-intuitive, but it may benefit us to get a 21-30 pick this year to give to Houston so that we can bank on having first-rounders in the future-- particularly when we are rebuilding post-Dirk. Get our obligations out of the way, and then start collecting draft picks for trade or development to continue being good.

We may not make the playoffs even if we try-- and if we get through 72 games and we are on the outside looking in, then I'd consider tanking a couple of games. Until then, I'd say our chances of securing a 5-8 seed is really good once Dirk returns and that is far more beneficial to our future than tanking for one first rounder in this draft.