NBA fans and analysts often advance that only one thing matters for an NBA team: winning a championship. If a team isn’t one of the few that have a legitimate shot at winning the title, then they are better off tanking or planning for the future. There’s no value in being “pretty good” or just making the playoffs; it has to be championship or bust.
This philosophy is misguided. Yes, winning a title should be the goal of every organization. But only one team can do that each year. (With the Golden State Warriors super team in the league the past few seasons the NBA champion has seemed inevitable.