How can the NBA eliminate tanking?
The 2024-2025 NBA Season is down to the final month of regular season play. League wide tanking has risen over the last few weeks entering the month of March. Tanking NBA teams including the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors and Philadelphia 76ers are sitting starters in and out of the starting lineup on a frequent basis. The inflated injury reports haven gone as far as heavy fines and team investigations. The Utah Jazz were recently fined 100 thousand dollars after sitting former All Star Lauri Markkanen against the Washington Wizards. It has become more and more clear who the tanking teams are and where they stand in terms of draft lottery odds. These tanking teams focusing on draft position include the Toronto Raptors, Brooklyn Nets, Philadalphia 76ers, Charlette Hornets, Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz. It is clear that NBA commissioner Adam Silver wants to stop league wide tanking. Changing the draft lottery odds would be a great starting point. It is widely known that NBA teams with the three worst records have a 52 percent change of gaining a top 4 lottery draft pick. The bottom three teams also have a 14 percent chance of winning the NBA lottery. Losing teams in the bottom 7 also have a 30 percent probability of gaining a top 4 pick. Every team, who missed the NBA playoffs should have the same odds of winning the NBA lottery draft. Teams should not have any motives of finishing with a bottom five record. Could eliminating tanking improve the NBA season? Would Commissioner Adam Silver allow changes to the draft lottery format? A lottery is random for a reason. The incentive to lose should be stopped and a drastic change could be necessary.
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