Sport Thoughts

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 ...

As the NBA trade deadline approaches in two months, it is time to analyze and examine the trade market. There will be several sellers during the February deadline. Teams open for business will include the Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Portland Trailblazers, Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans. There will be several star caliber players and high-end role players on the move between December and February. Star caliber players potentially on the move will include Zach Lavine, Nicola Vucevic, Cam Thomas, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Cj Mccolum Mccollum and Zion Williamson. High-end role players, include Lonzo Ball, Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson, Malcolm Brogdan, Jonas Valanciunas, Jeremy Grant, Robert Williams, Anfernee Simons, John Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton. Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler could the wild card of the trade market. Butler remains on an expiring contract with no contract extention talks on the horrizon. All of these potential trade targets ...

A new NBA season often allows teams to pick a direction as the season begins. The directions are usually contention or rebuilding. The rebuilding direction often leads to many losses. The losses for rebuilding teams hurt in the standings but often boost draft lottery odds. The odds to win the NBA lottery also leads to league wide tanking. It is becoming more noticable who the lottery teams could potentially be after a 20 game sample size. As previously mentioned, the teams with the worst records are likely to draft high in the lottery. As of early December, the worst teams in the NBA include the Washington Wizards, New Orleans Pelicans, Utah Jazz, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors. These five teams are at least 9 or more games under .500. There are also teams rumored to entee to the draft lottery sweepstakes. Teams such as the Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls, and Portland Trail Blazers are also expected to sell off players leading into the NBA trade deadline. Tanking could be a poten...