Despite the actions taken by NBA commissioner Adam Silver this season, tanking still seems to be an issue throughout the NBA, as the system rewards teams for finishing as low as possible in the final standings. Asked about the problem yesterday, Silver stated, “I find it an incredibly difficult issue,” reports Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press.
And while Silver hopes that new rules implemented next season will take some of the incentive of tanking away – the three worst teams will all have a 14 percent chance at the top pick – Silver realizes that the new rules may very well fall short of their intended purpose.
“We recognize that our goal is to put the best competition on the floor and it’s balanced against legitimate rebuilding of some teams. But I know we’re not there yet… I recognize that the incentives are not aligned right now that there’s a huge incentive to increase your chances in the draft lottery especially in the old system. As I’ve said we’re switching the system for next year we’ll see how much of an impact that has.”
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Stan Van Gundy echoes the sentiment that tanking is a serious issue, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. “We have about 10 teams that have gone out of their way to try to ensure they have a better chance to lose,” Van Gundy said. “To me, the essence of sports is two teams playing against each other trying to win… To me, it’s a lack of integrity in your league and lack of respect for your fans.”
- Former lottery selection Gerald Henderson plans to make a return to the court next season after a hip injury sidelined him for the 2017/18 campaign, reports Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype. Now over seven months removed from surgery, Henderson says he is cleared for all basketball activities and is working himself back into shape.
- During yesterday’s NBA Board of Governors meeting, the board voted to extend the league’s current revenue sharing plan, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. And while the tweaks are complex, the changes will only end up affecting one or two teams in a significant manner, adds Zach Lowe of ESPN.
It sucks for the legitimately terrible teams, but make it equal odds across the board for all non-playoff teams. No more tanking if there’s no benefit to losing.
Still won’t matter teams like NY, Boston, LA even when they should have the 6th or 7th pick somehow miraculously wind up with a top 2. The All Star game is unwatchable and the Sports Channels and websites only cover those 3 and LeBron.
Exactly. The only way to ensure that tanking is obsolete is to eliminate the reward for finishing last.
Why some teams are terrible has to do with the absurd contracts. Soon you’ll have guys making 40 M that are injured or on the downtrend.
I don’t believe that there is a foolproof plan to stop tanking. The best option might be to further even out the draft odds, although I don’t think that even odds for all 14 non-playoff teams is the answer. Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I just don’t feel that it’s right for a team that might’ve just missed the playoffs to have the same odds for a top 3 pick as a team that is actually one of the worst 3 teams in the league.
With the current salary cap rules and extra year of max contract earnings veteran players staying put can earn, one of the best ways to remove the incentive to tank may be to just eliminate the draft all together.
Tanking teams makes my bookie cry! Scoop…