You can build a great team with non-lottery picks

[handiman]

^ Agreed, I'm just answering the question technically, since people were arguing about nuances a few posts up.

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Was Toronto truly built without lottery picks? That's not exactly the same as saying they had no lottery picks on the roster when they won it... Gasol was traded for a lottery pick (Gasol) albeit by a different team, Kawhi was traded for a lottery pick (Derozan), and probably others fit the bill. They needed lottery picks as assets to build the roster.

As I said: it would be incredibly difficult to intentionally avoid using players who were lottery picks to build a team. What I'm talking about is a team continually rebuilding itself without dropping into the lottery. Or, what I'm REALLY saying is that a team composed of all non-lottery picks could be great. And the CURRENT Raptors don't even have Kawhi (acquired for Derozan) on them, and they're pretty fucking great (4-0 against LeBron past two years, 11-0 against the Lakers over the past few years).

 

[Rastapopoulos]

Talking of the Raptors - I could easily become a fan:



https://hoopshype.com/2020/07/14/toronto-raptors-undrafted-no-lottery-picks/