The modern NBA is generally divided into two groups: teams looking to lift a championship trophy in early June and teams trying to snag prime lottery picks in the NBA Draft later in the same month. In recent years, both groups have worked assiduously towards those goals. In the first case, trying to win, that’s good for the league. Intentionally losing to improve draft odds? Not so much.
Over the years the powers that be have tinkered with lottery odds, smoothing out the curve to disincentivize losing. That hasn’t stopped the problem. Now Shams Charania of ESPN is reporting that the NBA is looking seriously at new measures to put a stop to teams that slouch towards the end of each season with the posture and enthusiasm of a wilted rutabaga.
Quoting unnamed sources, Charania says measures under discussion include the following:
The article also cites multiple examples of tanking by NBA teams near and far, including the Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz, and Portland Trail Blazers. Discussing recent criminal charges against former Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Charania states:
…the government cited an unnamed co-conspirator, matching the description of Billups, who allegedly told a bettor that a number of Trail Blazers players would miss a March 2023 game as the team began to tank. The Blazers were 32-40 at that point, but they lost nine of their final 10 games of the season to finish with the fifth-worst record in the league.
No strategies have been adopted yet. Presumably talks will continue and intensify through the remainder of the season.