Tanking doesn't work, in the NFL or the NBA, Giants GM Dave Gettleman says
INDIANAPOLIS — Dave Gettleman’s job is to run the Giants, but he found some time on Wednesday to pass along some advice for the Knicks.
Gettleman said he can’t pay attention to future draft classes when evaluating the current one, especially when it comes to quarterbacks. So while players such as Justin Herbert, Tua Tagovailoa, Jake Fromm and Shea Patterson are all expected to be on the board in 2020, Gettleman said he won’t be using them as measuring sticks for Dwayne Haskins or Kyler Murray.
“At the end of the day, you can’t say to yourself, ‘I’m gonna get ’em next year,’ ” Gettleman said. “You have to evaluate the QBs and you take the guy when you believe he’s the guy and it’s the right spot. You can’t worry about the future. Because then someone else will say, ‘Well, in two years there are a couple of college quarterbacks coming out who are really amazing.’ Who knows?”
What does that have to do with the Knicks?
“I look at the NBA and everybody says you gotta tank,” Gettleman said. “ 'We’re gonna tank and we’re going to get this group here.’ What NBA team has tanked and it’s worked because they think they’re gonna get [certain players]?”
That does seem to be the strategy for New York’s premier basketball franchise, which is limping through this season and dismantling its roster in anticipation of signing and drafting top-notch talent this offseason.
When it was pointed out to Gettleman that the 76ers used that strategy to become a playoff-caliber team, he said: “When they win a championship we can have a discussion. But until that happens, it doesn’t work.”