[Bartweiss]

The cynical play for Greece might have been trying to schedule their bailouts in a default-friendly way. Accept bailouts, conduct several rounds of aggressive cuts to balance the budget (while financing with tranche funds), blame the Eurozone for them at home, and then default with a balanced budget immediately after a funding unlock.

I'm not sure it was possible - the deficit was too big to close without damaging the economy - but I suspect that leaning on international support while preparing an easy default might have been the best chance.