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The topic of tanking has been discussed at nauseam but it’s unavoidable. This season has been very difficult and the Nets are banking on the math behind the madness. At this rate, so what? Plenty of other teams are too. But there’s pressure in a sense — this has been a very long season.
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Last year’s fall to No. 8 was a tough pill to swallow, but this year they really tanked hard. Difficult to blame them for not tanking hard enough. All this said, they have a gauntlet of teams trying to accomplish the exact same thing. They beat the Kings on Sunday. They play Washington next weekend. Milwaukee twice. The Pacers sandwiched in between. It’s a scramble to the bottom.
Fun fact: The Nets have had only six top-three picks in history.
1981: Buck Williams #3 overall
1987: Dennis Hopson #3 overall
1990: Derrick Coleman #1 overall
1991: Kenny Anderson #2 overall
2000: Kenyon Martin #1 overall
2010: Derrick Favors #3 overall
The ultimatum isn’t ideal but we have to be frank. It’s been two years of tanking — and we can’t ignore the season before that — when they won 32 games without their own draft pick. Sure, the Mikal Bridges trade was a masterpiece, but what does it all mean if they can’t get into a position that enables a franchise-changing player?
You tell us.