Some NBA teams are eyeing the playoffs while others are eyeing the lottery. Are teams like the Grizzlies and Celtics purposely losing to improve their chances of landing Greg Oden or Kevin Durant? Does tanking even work? I take a look.
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2 responses to “To tank or not to tank?”
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Jeff Van Gundy’s idea to give every team a shot at the first pick is nuts. I understand that he wants to lesson the opportunity for a team to tank it, but come on. You think the NBA wants to see Dallas, Detroit, Miami or San Antonio get the top pick every year? Could you imagine what the Spurs would do with Oden or Durant next year? Yikes.
I’m not much for conspiracy theories in sports, but you bring up interesting facts with certain teams sitting key players in games or “shutting them down” for the season. I could certainly buy into GM’s or front office personal doing what they can to ensure a top five pick, but I still find it hard to believe players and coaches would. Players especially.
Good article.
AS
I don’t think it’s a case of a team making up an injury for a player to force them to miss games – it’s more like the player rests an injury that he would normally play through. Think about it – let’s say you’re Michael Redd and you still have some soreness in your knee from in-season surgery. The team suggests that you take the last eight games off to rest instead of risking further damage. Your team is out of the playoff hunt, so other than competitiveness, what are you playing for?
The downside is for those fans that attend those last few games. Maybe a dad takes his kid to see Redd play, only he’s not suiting up. Or maybe two other teams are fighting for playoff contention and one of those teams gets to play the Redd-less Bucks twice, while the other has Miami and Detroit.
I agree that Van Gundy’s idea is nuts, but they could make the lottery even for all the non-playoff teams. That would eliminate tanking but reduce parity.