Tanking is a touchy subject around NBA circles. But, one would have to be extremely naive to think that teams who know that the odds of their franchise winning a title are 99-1 don’t see the benefit in the race to be last at times. The teams with the worst record in the NBA are entered into a lottery system for the number one pick. Obviously as seen with Derrick Rose to the Bulls, Lebron James and Kyrie Irving to the Cavs or Kevin Durant to the Thunder – sorry Blazers fans, I know it still hurts that you passed up on KD for Greg Oden – that in the right year, you can change your team’s whole trajectory.
It’s not just the first pick, Look at Dwyane Wade and Russell Westbrook, both of those guys were top 5 picks. Maybe the NBA should open up the lottery to any team minus the two that competed for the NBA finals. That way the benefit of tanking is gone.
But nobody should be surprised that this thought process exists. It’s what rebuilding is.