“but I think they really undervalue the impact of a winning culture”
This mentality is awful & one of the most self destructive. It sounds good on the surface & in theory but in practice it’s usually what keeps bad teams bad. Look at half the awful moves in hindsight & they’re being made with that same “Winning Culture” argument. I’m a Bulls fan & have heard it every year since we started tanking, notice how we’re still bad.
Just off the top of my head, these are horrible moves (Mostly from my own team) made using that mentality:
Rondo & Dwade year that went nowhere but was supposed to keep a “Winning Culture” until the next big FA
Signing Jabari over taking bad contracts and getting picks
Refusing to trade Niko until he solidly messed up our tank.
Batum/Lance contracts for Charlotte
Spurs & Derozan
Otto Porter jr. trade
KG/Pierce Nets
Knicks literally every year, signing whatever FA’s they can
Wolves trading for Butler
Etc.
9/10 you hear someone say to do something with one of the benefits being “Creating/maintaining a winning culture” they’re about to make a bad long-term move & are trying to fool themselves into thinking it’s not.