from Mark Lazerus of The Athletic,

Do you have any mixed emotions about this start? The pro scouting has been a success, the guys you’re bringing in are the right fit, they work hard and Luke (Richardson)’s obviously building an identity. You’re establishing something here. But it’s also messing up the plans a little bit. We all know the worst thing you can do is finish like 10th place in the conference.

It’s not mixed emotions. It’s just kind of, when it comes time to pick, wherever we’re going to pick, you just have to find talent wherever you end up. Before the season and over the summer, it was just, ‘Oh, they’re just doing whatever they can to get a top-three pick.’ The idea of trying to do that is so hard. To finish anywhere specific in the standings is so damn hard. Because one, there’s much more parity in the league than anyone really wants to say. And two, the players just want to win.

Right, players don’t tank.

They do not. They just want to win every night. And we’re trying to build an identity of a way we think we can win down the road. And we’ve got a coach that’s aligned in that. So that’s going to lead to some good nights and some good stretches. And you know what? I think it’s more important that we do show some positive steps throughout the season because that’s going to be conducive to winning. And where we end up, we’ll see. It’s our job at that point to find the talent wherever we pick. It’s way too hard to say, “Oh, we’re going to do whatever we can to finish last.”

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