Anonymous NBA general manager says team plans to tank

nbafan88

Pretty much a regular
The season of tanking has begun in the NBA.

One NBA general manager says his team plans to tank all season in order to secure one of the top prospects expected to declare for the NBA Draft next season.
In an article written for ESPN the Magazine, the GM justifies his logic by saying “the last place you want to be is in the middle.”
“Our team isn’t good enough to win and we know it. So this season we want to develop and evaluate our young players, let them learn from their mistakes — and get us in position to grab a great player. The best way for us to do that is to lose a lot of games. This draft is loaded. There are potential All-Stars at the top, maybe even franchise changers. Sometimes my job is to understand the value of losing.
We’re not alone. Look at the 76ers. Since the draft in June, I don’t think they’ve signed a player or made a trade to add a legitimate player. A bunch of us realize that our teams aren’t good enough talentwise to do anything. You’re going to be bad. There’s no way around it. And even if you finish 0-82, there’s still a 75 percent chance you don’t get the No. 1 pick. We’re just going to take our lumps and hope our number gets called.”
 
That's fucking weak. If I'm an owner and my GM said this I'd fire him. I want someone who never sees losing as an option. Imagine how pissed the season ticket holders would be if they found out their team was trying to lose.
 
That's fucking weak. If I'm an owner and my GM said this I'd fire him. I want someone who never sees losing as an option. Imagine how pissed the season ticket holders would be if they found out their team was trying to lose.

You have to almost think the owner knows this though, and is on board with it.
 
Assuming it was Hinkie and he threw in the "look at the 76ers" comment so people thought it wasnt him

Dudes a genius

And CDS you couldnt be more wrong on this

Every sixer fan I know (and that includes a few season ticket holders) is 100% on board with losing as many games as possible this year

big picture bro
 
I can't even imagine wanting to lose. Then again I'm a Lakers fan, that would never fly here.
 
Assuming it was Hinkie and he threw in the "look at the 76ers" comment so people thought it wasnt him

Dudes a genius

And CDS you couldnt be more wrong on this

Every sixer fan I know (and that includes a few season ticket holders) is 100% on board with losing as many games as possible this year

big picture bro

This.

Only way the team has a future is to absolutely stink it up this season. Period.

Gonna be tough to stomach though.
 
This.

Only way the team has a future is to absolutely stink it up this season. Period.

Gonna be tough to stomach though.

I dont think it will be

I mean you know going in youre probably gonna be a 10 point underdog in over half the games

As long as MCW gets better over the course of the year and we get something decent back when we trade Turner and Young, Ill be happy
 
Really shocking that any GM would admit this to the media. What on earth would a GM have to gain by spilling this info, even anonymously? On the flip side, he has everything to lose is he is outed. Very bizarre story.
 
Bravo to this team. I don't think it's necessary to say it publicly though. To those saying win at any cost I say you're an idiot. As a fan of a team you'd rather have them go 41-41 for the next 5 years or 10-72 this year and grab an absolute star and build around him and actually compete for a title
 
Basketball is the one sport where tanking makes complete sense... If this were a baseball team taking and collecting revenue share it would be different. One player can mean the world in the nba
 
A few things wrong with that article. One, a few teams win fewer than 25 games per year, skewing the statistics since not every team can end up with the "Lebron" of the draft. I understand he didn't win in Cleveland, but that's as much on ownerships incapability to surround him with players than anything. These poorly run teams skew the data as they are ending near the top of the draft and making terrible picks. Think Minnesota with Flynn and Rubio or Charlotte with Thabeet. These aren't picks that we're using hindsight on, they were laughed at when they happened. I think you have to assume ownership competency when you're going to purposely "tank"/rebuild.
Also, similar to above, it doesn't separate tanking teams from bad teams. There's a big difference between a team making shrewd moves and plays with cap space and teams bad because they are stuck with shitty contracts and players with no real plan.
 
Theres so much flawed logic and manipulated stats in that article that its a joke

Think the Bulls are pretty happy with how their tank turned out

Same story with the Thunder

And the Cavs (both times)

Ill take my chances that the 76ers with Wiggins/Randle/Parker will be better in 5 years than they would have been with Jrue Holiday and the 19th pick in the '14 draft
 
Also Im pretty sure that the teams that tanked and got better would be part of this group as they ascend:

So are teams better off avoiding the “mediocrity treadmill”? Let’s define a mediocre team as one that wins between 34 and 49 wins. Of the teams in this group,

  • 9.1 percent won 54 or more games the next year
  • 13.9 percent won 54 or more games two years later
  • 14.8 percent won 54 or more games three years later
  • 16.5 percent won 54 or more games four years later
  • 19.8 percent won 54 or more game five years later
 
Back
Top