Tanking is knowingly losing games in order to get the opportunity to get a lottery pick in the NBA draft.
Getting a high draft pick(lottery pick) can help in many ways when trying to rebuild a team, because it allows to get the cream-of-the-crop collegiate/international players from around the world.
Over the last nine years lottery picks represent the best up-and-coming players in the NBA. These are the all-star selections from each of the lottery picks from the last nine years: 2004 has three, 2005 has three, 2006 has one, 2007 has one, 2008 has four, 2009 has three, 2010 has one, 2011 has one, and 2012 has two players in contention for a selection this year.
Getting a player from the draft allows a general manager to have more flexibility with cap space, because there is a max amount of money a player can get on a rookie contract depending on when they were selected in the draft. As opposed to getting a veteran player from free agency or via trade and end up paying much more.
According to realgm.com, the average salary for a first-year lottery pick is $2,272,300.
Most championship teams build through the draft, so if teams want to be great they’ve got to sacrifice some years in the lottery for the first overall pick.
With the high reward also comes high risk risk. There have been more than a few highly touted college players who haven’t lived up to their hyped, whether it be injury or production. Taking a veteran who has proved themselves at the professional is the safe and more sure-fire selection.
“Tanking” may destroy a team’s chemistry and will in turn make your best/competitive players consider joining another, and worst of all it will deter great players in free agency from joining the team.
The bottom line is know no professional team who knowingly loses games to get a high draft pick. They might sit their veterans and play their younger players more, but just because the talent level and experience may go down the effort won’t change.
This year’s NBA Draft have pundits and critics saying its the best draft since 2003 which included LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Carmelo Anthony. So I understand the reasoning behind fans who want their teams to turn it around this summer.
Although many fans believe that the bottom feeders of the NBA tank to get high draft pick but it’s really because they don’t have the talent or experience to make to the playoffs. Especially in a league that lacks parody, the NBA wants to see a level playing field where more than four or five teams have a chance at winning a championship.
