Adam Silver: NBA has to focus on tanking

[defhalotones]

A lot of answers in this thread but most do not go after the root cause of the problem.

What causes tanking? Simply a team can not field a high enough caliber team to be competitive and tanks to get higher caliber players so they can be competitive. Why do some teams have higher caliber players than others? If it is because a weaker team's higher caliber players leave, if so then the only way to stop tanking is to restrict player movement.

To correct that, the league could increase the length a drafted player is required to be on Restricted Free Agency by the drafting team, until 28 years old for example, plus increased compensation (including 1st round picks and or other players on the offering team) to the team losing a player in RFA. Another option is not pure restricted franchise tags, but allow teams to rank their players from 1 to 15 in order of their team's importance, and if a player is lost to RFA, then as an example, compensation could be the equivalent number (or lower if desired) player on the other team.

The only other way is a hard salary cap (or at least a soft cap but with much harsher such as triple penalties from what is in place now), plus no restriction on players salaries at all so that if a team wants LeBron, they will have to pay him $50M, but will have a lot less for other players on the team.

Does this restrict player movement ... of course! Wide open player movement is certainly part of the problem and if it is not curtailed somewhat, the problem of tanking will just continue to occur.

Great post. The only issue I have is teams ranking players 1-15. With the egos in the NBA, I could see it causing some rifts between the players and management.

[inquisitive]

hard to prove...teams can just say that they want to see their young players develop and play them with equal minutes to the starters....or mention some kind of minor injury that will keep the stars out as 'precautionary'...

[SaveTheHens]

What's this nerd going to do about it? Force teams to make moves? I do think teams benching star players with fake injuries should be punished though. Get some integrity losers.

Could just make it less rewarding to be the worst, take out the motivation to tank.

The problem is you can't take out the motivation to tank. The motivation to tank is basically a law of the NBA jungle. You can shift the motivation around, but not remove it. Give more teams a better chance at Wiggins, then maybe the worst 3 or 4 teams have less motive to tank, but all of a sudden the 7-9 teams can see the profit in it. If you give the bottom 10 teams all an equal 10% chance at that #1 pick, then the #11 and #12 teams see the advantage of tanking down to become #10. The only way you could get rid of it would be to make it completely random, all 30 teams with an equal chance. And that's just a horrible system and incredible overreaction that would leave the Bobcats of the world potentially perpetually out in the cold.

About the only way to try to counter the instinct would be to just give all the lottery teams an equal chance. But then that just moves the tanking cliff right up to the edge of the playoffs, and you are all of a sudden messing with the integrity of the playoff system where a team staring down a 3-0 dismissal by Miami might rather bow out and go chase Wiggins. Better to keep a system where you isolate the phenomenon to the bottom 5-7 teams then to start messing with the playoffs.

I'll admit that there is no perfect solution offered yet, but the motivation to tank can be lowered with a better system.

One possible system is for the lottery of the top 3 picks to have more spread out odds & also to be completely reversed in the opposite direction. Example odds (based on playing around with some numbers), going from the best non-playoff team to the worst would be
1. 11.7%
2. 11.0%
3. 10.3%
4. 9.4%
5. 8.9%
6. 8.2%
7. 7.5%
8. 6.8%
9. 6.1%
10. 5.4%
11. 4.7%
12. 4.0%
13. 3.3%
14. 2.6%

After the top 3 picks, teams' order in the draft will be placed in the order it has always been placed, from worst to best. So the worst team in the league would usually pick 4th overall (unless they luck out & win into the lottery, although this would be harder due to their lowered odds).

I'm not saying this is a perfect solution, it's just a different approach & can solve a few problems. First it would lower a bad teams' motivation to throw games. Winning a couple more games may increase your chances at the top 3 picks. Next it would reward some of the "good-but-not-good-enough" teams. Being an average team on the outskirts of the playoffs is the worst position for teams to be in nowadays. Today, a team that may be meddling in the 9th, 10th, 11th seed for a few years may see no other way to really make an improvement than to trade all their players away and tank. This kind of system will provide that extra boost for teams that are on the outskirts of the playoffs.

The system still allows the worst teams in the league to improve, since they'll still get a high pick just usually not the top 3 picks. It will also not encourage fringe playoff teams to drop out of the top 8, since even at your best odds you still only have a 1 in 3 chance of getting a top 3 pick (and the millions made off the playoffs is more worthwhile).

[thelead]

The only solution is a hard cap with no limits on "max" contracts (other than fitting in the hard cap).

[dockingsched]

just like the repeater luxury tax, give them a repeater loser tax. you miss the playoffs for 3 straight yrs, u get hit in the pocket. the further away you are from the playoffs, the more your revenue share is cut down.

[sixerswillrule]

Where does a culture of mediocrity get you?

[RealRapsFan]

One word: relegation.

Yep..... no disparity in talent in pro-soccer leagues. No consistently top teams and every team has an equal chance at competing......

[EvanZ]

A lot of answers in this thread but most do not go after the root cause of the problem.

What causes tanking? Simply a team can not field a high enough caliber team to be competitive and tanks to get higher caliber players so they can be competitive. Why do some teams have higher caliber players than others? If it is because a weaker team's higher caliber players leave, if so then the only way to stop tanking is to restrict player movement.

To correct that, the league could increase the length a drafted player is required to be on Restricted Free Agency by the drafting team, until 28 years old for example, plus increased compensation (including 1st round picks and or other players on the offering team) to the team losing a player in RFA. Another option is not pure restricted franchise tags, but allow teams to rank their players from 1 to 15 in order of their team's importance, and if a player is lost to RFA, then as an example, compensation could be the equivalent number (or lower if desired) player on the other team.

The only other way is a hard salary cap (or at least a soft cap but with much harsher such as triple penalties from what is in place now), plus no restriction on players salaries at all so that if a team wants LeBron, they will have to pay him $50M, but will have a lot less for other players on the team.

Does this restrict player movement ... of course! Wide open player movement is certainly part of the problem and if it is not curtailed somewhat, the problem of tanking will just continue to occur.

The issue here is that the players union will never allow these kinds of solutions. Otherwise, yeah.

[No Offense]

I agree with Silver culture is critical, teams that's not even trying to win shouldn't be rewarded. I can't believe the suggestion that a team like the Mavericks or Nets should receive stiffer penalties for driving up middling player prices. It's nonsense both of theses teams had losing cultures until they got new ownership that decided to do something mind-boggling, spend money to create a winning culture.

Sure there will be bad teams in the league but doing what the 76ers did this off season should be frowned upon honestly. This tanking culture is getting out of hand, take the Cavs for instance they have drafted in the past 3 years:

2011 Draft
Irving #1 first round
Thompson #4 first round

2012
Waiters #4 first round
Zeller #17 first round

2013
Bennett #1 first round

And a majority of their fans still want them to tank, then when Irving wants to leave in free agency they will decided to complain about it. Why should he want to stay, allowing the Cavs to waste multiple years of his career tanking?

It's ridiculous and at some point teams need to be penalized either it will have to be monetarily or by limiting bad teams ability to keep restricted free agents. The fans that accept tanking really need to stop looking at the league and it's players like it's NBA 2K. You just can't waste years of someone's career being bad and press the start button and go forward to the next season.

These wasted years are players lives and would you want to work for a company for years with the promise of advancement but never any returns? No one would and I wouldn't expect it out of anyone else no matter how much money they make.

That's nonsense. The majority of Cavs fans absolutely do not want them to be in the lottery again. I honestly don't know of any that do. Like, literally not one that I know.

[No Offense]

Where does a culture of mediocrity get you?

Probably straight to Seattle.

[chefy]

I'm failing to see the harm this has actually caused the league, it seems people are just increasingly whining about it because it offends their precious sensibilities.

Tanking is a reality of the draft being weighted to help the bad teams, so either change that and accept those consequences of that instead, or shut up about it and accept it's an inevitable consequence of the way the system is set up. There are no rewards for being middle of the pack.

Well, it impacts ticket sales, ratings, losses that big market teams usually cover, lack of profitiablity, etc.

There should be stiffer penalties on teams like the 2011 Bobcats or 2013 Sixers.

There is too much of a habit on that. Being in the middle is what 29 teams do yearly honestly. There isn't a championship for being runner up. 1 wins, everyone else tries.

I just don't buy into the " be a contender or tank it" logic. It should only apply to certain teams, not all situations like how it's become.

So what is exactly is the issue here again? Lol

Big-name players do not want to go to low market teams. That's the reality.

Low market teams tank to have a chance of drafting good players or a franchise player and to clear up cap space so they can lure superstars/all stars to sign on their team.

Do you think if Lebron had the chance to pick which team he'll go to in the 03 draft he would have chosen to play in Ohio?

Now is tanking a sure fire path to success? Does it guarantee a team getting a good player/franchise player in the draft? No.

On top of this when you tank = you lose money.

Do you think LOW market teams enjoy losing money?

This is just Adam Silver trying to get fans attention.

[Paradise]

So what is exactly is the issue here again? Lol

The issue is when the next CBA expires, the big market owners will look at small market owners and small market owners will look at big market owners. There was an issue between big market and small market owners on revenue sharing. That will become a bigger issue down the line if small market teams don't try to support themselves a bit better.

Big-name players do not want to go to low market teams. That's the reality.

Big market name players get drafted by small market teams. Now, some are just in a bad spot in terms of being in a small market and stars wanting to be in a bigger market but then you also have small market teams that dig their own graves and eventually drive stars away. Look at OKC as possible example.

Low market teams tank to have a chance of drafting good players or a franchise player and to clear up cap space so they can lure superstars/all stars to sign on their team.

Do you think if Lebron had the chance to pick which team he'll go to in the 03 draft he would have chosen to play in Ohio?

Yes he would. It was his hometown, he was still a kid and at the end of the day, he didn't go to a bigger market either.

Now is tanking a sure fire path to success? Does it guarantee a team getting a good player/franchise player in the draft? No.

On top of this when you tank = you lose money.

Do you think LOW market teams enjoy losing money?

I doubt they enjoy losing money but again, it starts with the belief all they have to do is suck really bad and then land a top 3 pick to generate buzz and start marketing the kid they draft. Do you think the Bobcats expected to own a 7-59 record and have no #1 overall pick to show for it?

IF you want to tank, you have to have a calculated plan in doing so. Then figure out other options. Houston was a 9th seed that was fairly competitive that collected draft pick after draft pick and stayed in the middle with assets understanding this is a star driven league and while they did get lucky with Harden, they still were in position for Josh Smith, Asik, etc.

What teams basically do is just trade or let certain players go, completely floor their roster and just let it ride. Then expect that the #1 pick or the Top 5 pick they get is going to develop and be patient with losing while they hope to get other picks in the next 3 years. Then, either that drafted player doesn't live up to the hype, develops bad habits or straight up leaves.

It's simply not well calculated.

[Dominator83]

San Antonio is the perfect example — championships under David Robinson, one injured season allows them to win the lottery and draft Tim Duncan.

This is one of the ONLY examples of that happening that I can recall in the last 20 years. Can you come up with a few more?

MIA had a history of success and was a contender in 2007-08 before Wade got hurt, and they ended with a league worst record of 15-67. The current draft system could have awarded them another potential rookie superstar on the cheap, and possibly still allowed them to add LeBron and Bosh.

One pick away from D-Rose. Also passed on Kevin Love and Westbrook, but wont count that because hindsight is always 20-20. But they wanted Rose, and nearly got him.

[thug-lyfe]

Solution: Remove every small market teams, retain big market teams. Have the players from the small market teams be in an expansion draft for the remaining teams

[Joseph17]

They don't have to focus on tanking. The most entertaining part of the NBA is the playoffs. No one really cares about the non playoff teams. If they want to tank, let them tank.

[G R E Y]

1. Hard cap.

2. Some sort of system in which a team that wins the #1 pick cannot be in the top 5 again for the next, say, 2-3 years. If memory serves, they had something like that in place the first time the Raps won the #1 pick as an expansion team. I don't get why expansion teams had that restriction, but this type of system may discourage teams from being perennial losers.

I do agree with Silver that culture change is paramount. There's no reason why teams should be so bad for so long - the Raps have been mediocre for nearly their entire EXISTENCE in the league. Given that the league vets its owners and claims to have top notch people owning 1/30 piece of a valuable pie (a stronger case for which can be made now that the Maloofs are very finally out of the picture), a well-managed team should be positioned to compete within 2-3 years after losing a star be it through free agency, trade or retirement.

[turtlesnjoi]

just like the repeater luxury tax, give them a repeater loser tax. you miss the playoffs for 3 straight yrs, u get hit in the pocket. the further away you are from the playoffs, the more your revenue share is cut down.

I REALLY like this idea.

It's the only thing that makes sense.

[UnderdogRaptors]

hopefully he does, I'm tired of seeing teams exaggerate injuries just so they can tank the last couple of months of the seasons away its disrespectful to the game and the fans that pony up the money to go watch there team win..

[165bows]

My prediction is the lottery will soon be extended to every team that doesn't have home court advantage in the playoffs. For instance, what incentive do teams like Milwaukee, Dallas, Toronto, or any bubble team have for making the playoffs in a good draft year? Since the first round was changed back to a 7 game series, the chance of an upset is virtually zero.

I think that's actually the best idea I've seen regarding draft lotto changes. The problem with fixes like making all non-playoff teams get a 1/14th chance is it further incentivizes tanking, extending it out to teams on the edge of playoff contention. People saying there is zero incentive for being in the middle are missing the big economic payday from home playoff games, and they also totally forget about stuff like this:

[SmoothKobra]

My prediction is the lottery will soon be extended to every team that doesn't have home court advantage in the playoffs. For instance, what incentive do teams like Milwaukee, Dallas, Toronto, or any bubble team have for making the playoffs in a good draft year? Since the first round was changed back to a 7 game series, the chance of an upset is virtually zero.

I think that's actually the best idea I've seen regarding draft lotto changes. The problem with fixes like making all non-playoff teams get a 1/14th chance is it further incentivizes tanking, extending it out to teams on the edge of playoff contention. People saying there is zero incentive for being in the middle are missing the big economic payday from home playoff games, and they also totally forget about stuff like this:

The overwhelming majority of 7 and 8 seeds get only 2 home playoff games. That's missing a "Huge payday"?