All articles tagged with #tanking
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league will pursue substantial changes to the draft lottery next season to curb tanking, including possible moves to decouple the draft order from team records or adopt a straighter lottery, with ideas ranging from a one-ball-per-team system to reversing incentives so the champion could claim the first pick, all aimed at realigning incentives beyond incremental tweaks.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr proposed making the NBA draft lottery odds equal for all 14 teams and adding strong playoff incentives (such as cap relief or cash) to deter tanking, part of ongoing discussions about league-wide reform.
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes updates the 2025-26 NBA win-loss forecasts for all 30 teams, incorporating strength of schedule, recent form, injuries and the season’s tanking dynamics. Notable shifts include the Boston Celtics edging up to about 54-28, OKC remaining around 62-20 despite absences, the Spurs surging to roughly 56-26, and the Nets hovering near 19-63 as tanking persists; other cases feature the Nuggets around 49-33, the Trail Blazers around 41-41, the Kings near 17-65, and the Lakers around 45-37, underscoring how health and late-season schedules will largely determine final standings more than midseason momentum.
The article argues that tanking is a symptom of the NBA’s 82‑game grind, and while proposed anti‑tanking fixes raise concerns about side effects, the real cure may be shortening the schedule to around 60–65 games to make every game more meaningful and reduce incentives to lose. It cautions that some rule changes could backfire or punish teams that rebuilt, notes the 2026 draft class heightens the tanking temptation, and advocates for reasonable measures focused on lengthening the competitive window rather than sweeping overhaul.
Charles Barkley offered several anti-tanking proposals: block price hikes for teams below .500, award every lottery team a single ping-pong ball to ensure equal draft odds, and remove protected draft picks so trades can’t shield top picks, a package he argues would incentivize winning and reduce lottery manipulation.
The NBA is weighing revisions to the draft lottery to curb tanking, including ideas like freezing odds at a deadline, top-four protections, and using two-season records, with Commissioner Adam Silver saying a fix is needed to protect league integrity and the fan experience.
Commissioner Adam Silver told all 30 GMs that the NBA will enact anti-tanking rule changes for 2026-27, with options under consideration including first-round pick protections, prohibiting consecutive bottom-three finishes from earning top picks, barring top-four selections if a team reached the conference finals, freezing or adjusting lottery odds, flattening odds, basing them on two-year records, and expanding play-in eligibility; Krzyzewski supported the effort and urged teams to prepare for changes.
The NBA plans anti-tanking rule changes for next season, including protections for top-four picks (or top-14-plus), potential lottery-odds freezes, limits on consecutive top-four picks, two-year-record-based odds, and extending the lottery to all play-in teams, as commissioner Adam Silver and the Competition Committee explore ways to preserve competitive integrity amid concerns about tanking.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver flagged seven proposed anti-tanking changes to be in place by next season, including protecting only top-four or top-14-plus picks, freezing lottery odds at a set date, banning back-to-back top-four selections after poor seasons or conference finals, extending lottery eligibility to play-in teams, basing odds on two-year records, and flattening odds across lottery teams; the league aims to move from theory to real-world rollout, with ripple effects on incentives and tanking behavior.
Tanking is a false promise; history shows championships come from savvy drafting and trades rather than losing to improve lottery odds. None of the last 20 Finals MVPs was drafted in the top four, and in the past six years players like SGA, Jaylen Brown, Jokic, Curry, Giannis—and even LeBron James via free agency—have demonstrated that elite teams win through smart acquisitions and development, not tanking. The Thunder’s tanking approach under Sam Presti is a notable outlier. For the Knicks, the takeaway is clear: avoid chasing losses and focus on smart drafting and trades instead.
Suns owner Mat Ishbia denounces tanking as a disgrace that undermines the league’s integrity and says it’s far worse than any prop-bet scandal, urging Adam Silver to enact sweeping changes to remove incentives to lose, potentially overhauling the draft/lottery system and calling on influential voices to speak out in support of competitive integrity.
As the NBA resumes, five major storylines will shape the sprint to the finish: a tanking surge driven by a deep draft class, James Harden’s fit with Cleveland, Jayson Tatum’s potential return for Boston, Denver’s health determining its title chances, and the Pistons’ strong defense testing playoff math and matchups.
Rumors that the NBA might abolish the draft and replace rookies with unrestricted free agents to curb tanking could jeopardize the Oklahoma City Thunder’s long-term plans by erasing their valuable draft capital and complicating Sam Presti’s strategy to sustain a star-driven, affordable core around Shai Gilgeous‑Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Chet Holmgren, despite recent championship success.
After a well-received All-Star Weekend, Adam Silver signaled that the league will study fresh fixes to curb tanking—considering options like removing draft protections and barring top-four picks—though no quick solution is promised. The piece also notes strong All-Star Game viewership, ongoing questions about Jayson Tatum’s return, and tributes to Chris Paul’s retirement from players who reflected on his impact.
Media figures including Bomani Jones and Tom Haberstroh argue that removing the NBA draft would end tanking by making incoming players free agents, removing the incentives to lose games. The NBA is reportedly weighing abolition of the draft, a move proponents say would push teams to compete for talent, while raising questions about market power and feasibility.