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The result in the win column may be the same or similar but it is not the same thing at all. The intent is different and so is the execution. The Blazers are trying to add valuable pieces and develop a winning team going forward, not jettison everyone of merit so as to hopefully gain a top lotto pick. It's a retool, even if we lose some games in the process.
Tanking requires active effort. The Batum trade is the only active effort that anyone could point to that might constitute tanking, and it's really defensive in that we received a player whose production last year compared to Batum's, along with a top 10 pick. The free agents leaving was their choice. What the front office has actively done does not constitute tanking. They tried to keep Aldridge, sign Monroe, sign Kanter; they traded a draft pick for a two-year vet who can start; they signed Aminu and Davis (young vets who can contribute now). None of these are tanking moves; they're all moves designed to make us competitive ASAP.
The intent seems exactly the same. You intend to get more talent added to your roster, divest yourself of large contract players that aren't going to be part of some future team you hope will contend, and you intend to contend a few years down the line. What's so different?
