Tanking--Does it Work?

For those unfamiliar with the term, 'tanking' is a strategy that bad teams employ in order to ensure themselves a good draft pick. These teams will often sit their best players for significant minutes each game in order to lose more games than the other bad teams lose. On paper, it's a somewhat viable strategy: you get your inexperienced young guys a lot of minutes, you generally avoid bad injuries for star players, and, ultimately, get one of the best players in the draft.

Does it work, though? Let's take a look at the perennial tankers of the last few seasons.

Los Angeles Lakers

In 2013, the Lakers were 45 and 37. Not a horrible season, but definitely not a great one. Kobe was definitely on the decline, and because he still had a huge salary, the Lakers couldn't afford to bring in a bunch of other firepower.

In 2014, the Lakers decided to try their hand at the tanking game. They ended that season with just 27 wins, their worst season in the Kobe era. For their efforts (or lack thereof) they were rewarded with the 7th pick in the draft. With that pick they drafted Julius Randle.

Randle has been a pretty solid player ever since, averaging over 13 points per game in his career on 49% shooting, and 16 points per game this year on 55% shooting.

Did the acquisition of Randle lead to more success in the following season? Unfortunately, no. The Lakers finished the 2014-2015 season with a record of 21 and 61, six games worse than the previous season. Obviously, a lot of the blame still rested on the shoulders of a declining Kobe, but so far, tanking hadn't paid off. 

For their next draft pick, the Lakers selected D'Angelo Russell as the #2 overall pick. 

Russell turned out to be a bust. Statistically, he's not bad, averaging about 15 points per game. However, drama between Russell and Nick 'Swaggy P' Young led to a divided locker room, something no team really recovers from. The Lakers front office decided they'd be better off removing the Russell cancer, and traded him just a couple of seasons after drafting him.

In 2016, the Lakers had their worst season yet. Completely distracted by Kobe's protracted 'Farewell Tour', the Lakers finished the season with an abysmal 17 wins. Sad. But I guess when you're tanking, you might as well do it right!

For their best tanking effort in years, the Lakers scored another #2 pick. Brandon Ingram became the newest Laker, and the first Laker to play in Los Angeles after the end of the Kobe era. 

Ingram didn't start producing big numbers right away, but has since developed into a solid player, especially this season in which he improved his 3 point % to 39%. Not bad.

Sadly, the Lakers continued to tank. They finished the 2016-17 season at 26 and 56, better than the last couple of years, but still terrible. For the third year in a row, the Lakers secured the #2 pick in the draft. 

And who did they choose? 

Oh, wait, that's not Lonzo. That's his horribly obnoxious dad, Lavar.

Here's Lonzo: 

Lonzo Ball, the Lakers' new anointed one. He can shoot the three better than Steph Curry, pass better than Magic Johnson, and finish at the rim better than Lebron James (according to his dad).

Well, with the addition of Ball, the Lakers can stop tanking, right?...Right? Guys? 

The Lakers finished this season at 35 wins and 47 losses, their best record in years. 

So has tanking helped the Lakers? ANSWER: NOT YET, but maybe soon.

Philadelphia 76ers

As good as the Lakers were at tanking, the Sixers will always be the undisputed masters. They turned tanking from a strategy into an art form.  Their last legitimate season before starting the tanking game was 2013, when they had 34 wins and 48 losses. In 2014, they took a nosedive (albeit on purpose) and finished the season with a record of 19-63. 

In the draft following that season, the Sixers received the #3 overall pick, and with it drafted the new face of the franchise: Joel Embiid. 

Unluckily for Philly, Embiid spent his first couple of seasons injured, and was therefore unable to contribute. The sixers, though, saw their misfortune as an opportunity to tank for a little while longer. In the 2014-15 season, the 76ers won 1 game less than they did the year before, which is actually kind of impressive. It's hard to do worse than 19 and 63. But if anyone could do it, it'd be Philly.

With the 3rd pick in the 2015 draft, the Sixers shot themselves in the foot.

Jahlil Okafor has been basically nonexistent since his NBA debut, and has somehow managed to get worse each season. Phila was able to dump him off to Brooklyn this season, where he has been equally ineffective.

Anyways, Jahlil didn't help the 76ers at all, and in 2016 they recorded the second worst season in league history, winning just 10 games. The worst season in history? Also the 76ers, clear back in 1973. They won only 9 games that year. I guess Philly has been tanking since long before any of their roster was born! 

For the ultimate tank, the sixers were awarded the #1 pick in the draft. Finally, they had attained their ultimate goal. With that pick, they selected LSU phenom Ben Simmons, who was widely believed to be the heir apparent to Lebron James. 

Like Embiid before him, though, Simmons spent his entire rookie year on the injured list, leaving Philadelphia to once again try their hand at the tank. That season ended with a record of 28 and 54, which is actually somewhat respectable considering their previous season.

Once again, the Sixers were poised to get a top pick in the draft. Through a series of unlikely trades, Philadelphia ended up with another #1 pick. They might have chosen Lonzo Ball with that pick, had it not been for Lonzo's obnoxious father (see above). Instead, they ended up with Markelle Fultz. 

Fultz (as so many Sixer drafts before him) spent a lot of his rookie year on the bench in a suit and tie due to injuries. When he did play, though, there was nothing remarkable about his game. In fact, he didn't play a single minute in the eastern conference semifinals against the Celtics, which should tell you something.

HOWEVER, the 76ers seem to finally have 'trusted the process' long enough to see some payoff. They ended the season at 52 and 30, good enough for the 3 seed in the eastern conference playoffs. 

Has tanking worked for the Sixers, then? ANSWER: YES, but it was a long, arduous process.

Expect them to be good for quite a while.

Phoenix Suns

The Suns haven't had as much practice at tanking as the Sixers have, but they seem to be getting the hang of it. In 2015 they had a decent season at 39 and 43, but still landed themselves outside of playoff contention. They weren't really excited about any of their players, and so the tank started rolling.

The 2015-16 season finished with a record of 23 and 59, their worst since 1969. The 4th overall pick was theirs for the taking, and they chose...Dragan Bender...

Whoops!

Bender has averaged just over 5 points per game on 37% field goal percentage. Not exactly who you want as your 'franchise player.' 

Fortunately for Phoenix, their draft pick from the year before (a young upstart named Devin Booker) started to find a groove. He turned into a prolific scorer, even putting up 70 points on one occasion.

But even with Booker coming into his own, Phoenix wanted to roll around in the garbage for a little while longer.

At the end of the 2016-2017 season they recorded 24 wins and 58 losses, just one game better than the previous season. This sorry excuse for a record lead to the #4 overall pick in the draft, which they used to pick up Josh Jackson. 

Jackson has actually been somewhat of a bright spot for the Suns, averaging 13 points per game in his rookie season. However, Jackson and Booker and Bender assembled another atrocious season, finishing with 21 wins and 61 losses, the worst record in the league.

Has the tanking worked for the suns? ANSWER: NOT EVEN CLOSE, though they'll get another                                                                                  good draft pick this year.

Brooklyn Nets

The Nets might never be good again.

After making the playoffs in 2013, 2014, and 2015, the Nets have been a perennial contender for worst record in the league. How did the shift happen so quickly? It all started with a few dumb decisions from the Nets' front office.

Focused on short-term success, the Nets traded away 3 first round draft picks in 2012 to acquire Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. In 2013, they gave away 3 MORE first round picks to get veterans Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. See a trend? Brooklyn traded away young potential talent for old, worn-out, broken veterans in the hopes of winning a championship. And you know how far those hopes got them? A loss in the first round of the playoffs, a loss in the second round, and another loss in the first round.

...and then they had no draft picks.

Thus, the tanking began.

In 2016, the Nets posted 21 wins and 61 losses, not bad for a team with literally no one left. In the draft lottery that year, they drew the #3 overall pick, but had already traded it away to the Celtics. The Celtics drafted Jaylen Brown, who has proven to be a great asset.

Sorry, Nets! You blew it!

In the 2016-17 season, the Nets finished at 20-62, a game worse than the previous season. They were awarded the #1 pick in the draft, but PSYCH! They had already traded it away to Boston, who had then traded it to Philadelphia. Philadelphia drafted Markelle Fultz, who we have already discussed above. He hasn't produced much so far, but will develop more next season as he (hopefully) spends less time on the injured list and more time on the court. Anyways, the point is that he's not on the Nets.

The Nets finished the 2017-18 season with a record of 28 and 54, so it looks like they're on the rise! JK lol. 28-54 still sucks. 

For this coming draft, the Nets are projected to land the #8 pick, but again, that pick has already been traded away. This time, it's the Cavaliers that will be the beneficiaries.

So, has tanking worked for the Nets? ANSWER: NOT EVEN CLOSE, but that's mostly due to bad decisions.

Can it work for the Nets? ANSWER: MAYBE NEVER.

lol