tanking. Is there a point?

[SpanishACB]

you get your team into losing mentality it doesn't matter who you draft.


Only about 5 players have won rings for the franchises that drafted them, and about half of them was after leaving and coming back to be a role veteran (or played 5 minutes in the final, like Darko).

So statistically, tanking is a really mediocre way of winning anything. Only the Spurs achieved succesful tanking in history.

Surely it's better to get to invest in better coaching and deveolop a system slowly and winning mentality?

why do NBA teams still think tanking is a good idea?

[chocolatethunder]

While I inderstand what you are saying, you're making generalizations and assumptions that aren't true. I'll try and explain the best that I can and maybe you'll disagree. Since it seems to be popular, I'll use the Sixers as an example.

When Josh Harris and crew took over the Sixers they were still feeling the effects of the two previous regimes both of whom had made awful decisions in giving away draft picks and were notorious for giving out awful head scratching contracts. When you are a franchise like this, who were stuck perpetually in mediocrity and you don't have any cap space, you're not really doing much. Not only that but there hadnt been a winning culture there since the end of Larry Browns days. Doug Collins while he was a good coach at one point, became something else. He fought with management and wanted to give Kwame Brown a long term deal, he fought w Evan Turner and ruined what little career he would have had and was really no better than what they had been seeing before and after Larry Brown. With new owners, wanting to start fresh, being really bad for a while is an effective strategy to build a good team for the long term. You suck for three years and can be good for ten years or more if you are able to properly execute the plan and you have some luck. As a basketball fan and Sixer fan I totally support this. This is very different from a team stuck in perpetual hell and bad management like the Clippers used to be.

As far as everyone who comes on here banging on about how it breeds a "culture of losing". That's actually not always true. When you're in a shitty organization that always loses and is the laughing stock of the league year in and year out and you have awful ownership and awful management this can be true. In the Sixers' case tbis couldn't be further from the truth. The coach was hired knowing that this would happen and knowing this would be difficult. The team is the youngest team in the league. The players are not trying to lose and they are playing their asses off. They simply don't have the talent to win. My friend played for the Sixers summer league this year and thought the organization was great and thought Brett Brown was great. He worked with Brett Brown on his own which is not very common for a head coach to do. Normally assistants and other staff will do that stuff. He said the culture was great and thought it was positive and he learned a lot. The Sixers are upfront about what's going on with the players. But they are teaching basketball to their players and their team works hard. They may not be good but they aren't out there not trying. There is nothing wrong with what's going on in that organization. To give you an example, my friend has also played for the Heat and the Nets in other summer league years and said that his experience with the Sixers was the best experience. Although it's easy from the outside to look at the standings or the box score and say "oh they're not trying they suck or they're tanking" isn't really true. They are certainly not fielding a good team but they aren't fielding a team who doesn't try and play hard. And the coaches, including the head coach are busting their asses trying to develop these players, the majority of whom are D league level talent.

This is the last year that the Sixers will suck this badly. That's exactly it. They had a plan and are executing it. As a basketball fan I'd much rather see this than watch KG was 10 years on a mediocre team or Kevin Love or Anthony Davis. So yes, when done correctly it's worth it. It's just not often done correctly. And another thing, sometimes teams like the Bucks last year are just unexpectedlybawful because of injuries, coaching changes erf. The year before last they were a playoff team and this year they are considerably better.

I'm sick of all this "culture of losing". It's just sensationalism
and it's just not true.

Edit: the Sixers weren't just tanking for Wiggins of that draft specifically. The Sixers plan was to be bad for three years or so so that they could get some decent young talent. They also do not want to sign any free agents to large deals or take on and large deals. The reason for this is two fold. They don't think its smart to sign someone when the team isn't good and this will allow the team to maintain cap flexibility moving forward when they actually have a decent team. Being below the cap will also allow them to absorb awful contracts and get future first and second round picks. This will allow them to still have more than one second round pick in the comin years when they will be much better.

[Draz]

Y'all ever had chocolate thunder at outback though. Shit bangin

[YouGotServed]

Durant, Westbrook, Anthony Davis, Irving etc etc...This dude still asking if there's a point.

[outbreak]

For smaller market teams yes there is a point. Players who can contribute on rookie level deals are a huge asset in this league.

[Nash]

tanking is good because usually when you tank its not necessarily about getting a particular franchise changing player but more about obtaining assets, especially when you start your yard sale.

[guy]

I don't really understand it. First off, losing a lot doesn't guarantee a great pick (I believe the worst team has a 25% chance of getting the top pick?). Second, the draft is such a crapshoot, with only a few players actually becoming all star level players and it's not easy to see which players it will be. Makes little sense to me.

[chocolatethunder]

I don't really understand it. First off, losing a lot doesn't guarantee a great pick (I believe the worst team has a 25% chance of getting the top pick?). Second, the draft is such a crapshoot, with only a few players actually becoming all star level players and it's not easy to see which players it will be. Makes little sense to me.

Losing guarantees the worst team the fourth pick at worst. Yes for certain the draft is a crapshoot but it's also a useful tool if you have a plan in place to improve your team. The draft is set up so that the bad teams improve. Tanking for a specific player isn't really possible because of the lottery so I'm not really sure that what you're complaining about exists. The Sixers told the fans the league and anyone else that would listen that they were going to be realy bad for a few years in order to have a brighter future. The Cavs got very lucky, the Bucks were bad last year but not on purpose. They were expecting to go back to the playoffs. If you could, please give me a list of teams losing on purpose by having their players not trying hard on purpose. Thanks.

[stalkerforlife]

No point at all and teams should be punished heavily for it.

A ton of draft picks turn out to be busts, anyway.

[sportsfan76]

you get your team into losing mentality it doesn't matter who you draft.


Only about 5 players have won rings for the franchises that drafted them, and about half of them was after leaving and coming back to be a role veteran (or played 5 minutes in the final, like Darko).

So statistically, tanking is a really mediocre way of winning anything. Only the Spurs achieved succesful tanking in history.

Surely it's better to get to invest in better coaching and deveolop a system slowly and winning mentality?

why do NBA teams still think tanking is a good idea?

Why would someone who gets a check go out and lose on purpose when it's no guaruntee he will have a job the next season?? Stop being brain washed by the media

No team is tanking

[outbreak]

Why would someone who gets a check go out and lose on purpose when it's no guaruntee he will have a job the next season?? Stop being brain washed by the media

No team is tanking

Philly is.

I don't believe players play bad for draft picks but management definitely drop salary and veterans to stock pile young assets knowing they will have a good chance at rebuilding through the lottery.

[navy]

Tanking is done by GMs and Coaches. Players dont tank, they are out to get paid usually.

[dubeta]

Yes, so you can load up on picks and young talent so that you can convince your former superstar to leave and return once again...














... similar to this off season where the Hornets tried to get Kobe back after 18 long years while acquiring a bunch of young talent

[hawksdogsbraves]

No point at all and teams should be punished heavily for it.

A ton of draft picks turn out to be busts, anyway.

Eh most teams are punished for it. Tanking is far from a guarantee.

Look at the Hornets for example. After clawing their way to the playoffs in 2010 they blew the team up, acquiring a couple first round picks for Gerald Wallace, (a great trade for them actually). They wound up getting Bismack Biyombo, (as part of a trade where they gave up Tobias Harris, oops) and Kemba Walker, then MKG with the second overall pick 2012. They got Cody Zeller with the 4th pick the next year, and then added Al Jefferon and clawed their way back into the playoffs.

So their tank job, which lasted three years, netted them three top 10 picks and the 19th pick, plus a 2014 pick from the Pistons, (for Ben Gordon) which wound up being Noah Vonleh.

The total haul from their tank was Kemba Walker, Bismack Biyombo, Michael Kidd Gilchrist, Cody Zeller, and Noah Vonleh. Zero stars, (to this point anyway) and a franchise that's right back in the dumps and looks like it might have to start all over.

A failed tank.

That being said, one lottery ball comes up different and they're looking at Anthony Davis instead of MKG and things are a little rosier.

[Mr. Jabbar]

yeah, look at the cavs, draft pick after draft pick + this year collusion and where are they? getting blown out of their court by the friken hawks