Took over a team which had just made the finals the previous year. Ended up with one of the worst teams in the league.
He doesn't have to tank, just develop the younger guys and see what happens from there. If they start winning, great! If they still keep losing, nothing changes. If they still keep losing, but the guys are getting better, then at least you got something to look forward to. No risk/high reward
? He made the playoffs three straight years after taking over, then Kidd and Vince Carter started to decline and it fell apart.
You'd end up with one of the worst teams in the league too if your fourth best player was Keyon Dooling ('08-'09) or Yi ('09). He had 3 very solid years with them and then Kidd hit 32 and things went to hell.
Took a 50-win team which went to the finals a couple of times to barely over 500. What an amazing coach.