Tank season is in full swing.<\/p>\n
As the NBA heads into the fourth quarter of its regular season, contenders are jockeying for playoff positioning while the squads at the bottom of the standings play for the opposite: Fewer wins and more ping pong balls in the draft lottery. Tanking is a hot-button issue across the NBA, with commissioner Adam Silver\u2019s recent acknowledgment<\/a> that the hush-hush practice has reached never-before-seen levels.<\/p>\n The league recently levied six-figure fines to the Jazz and Pacers<\/a> for \u201cconduct detrimental to the league,\u201d which came in the form of sitting top players and player participation policy<\/a> violations. Silver plans to take action and enact anti-tanking rules by next season. He recently informed all 30 general managers of potential changes<\/a>, like a freeze on lottery odds at a specific date, odds based on two-year records and expanding the draft lottery to include all play-in tournament teams.<\/p>\n Representatives from all 30 teams gathered on a Zoom call last week to discuss the tanking crisis. One top team executive told Sports Illustrated\u2019s Chris Mannix <\/a>that the call was an \u201cidea gathering\u201d exercise. While Silver appears committed to new anti-tanking rules, any potential changes to the current system are in their infancy. New anti-tanking rules or even a fully revitalized draft system could go in any direction<\/a>, with plenty of work ahead and buy-in needed to enact change.<\/p>\n Since anti-tanking measures have yet to arrive, this year\u2019s draft, headlined by Darryn Peterson of Kansas, BYU\u2019s AJ Dybantsa and Duke\u2019s Cameron Boozer, will follow the system we all know and love (to hate). And for the remainder of the regular season, teams that have already punted toward next year and beyond will look to put themselves in the best possible position for May\u2019s NBA draft lottery. Just not too obviously.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s where the race to the bottom currently stands as we verge on March:<\/p>\n Current NBA draft lottery standings and odds<\/p>\n Each of the NBA\u2019s bottom-three teams will have a 14% chance at the No. 1 pick and a 52.1% chance of remaining in the top four picks. Although odds are the same at the bottom, there\u2019s still an incentive to finish with the worst record. The team with the worst record can drop to the fifth pick, while the team with the third-worst record can fall as low as seven. Think of the prize for the worst record as an added cushion should the lottery go sideways and teams with lower odds jump ahead.<\/p>\n The worst five teams are within 4.5 games of each other, which means there is room for considerable movement as the regular season reaches its conclusion. The Pelicans controversially traded their unprotected 2026 first-round pick<\/a> to the Hawks at last year\u2019s draft to acquire standout rookie big man Derik Queen. Although New Orleans is near the bottom of the standings, it has no incentive to keep losing<\/a>. Atlanta\u2019s front office certainly hopes the deal results in a shiny pick at the top of the draft, however. <\/p>\n Similarly, Indiana made a lottery gamble at the deadline when the Pacers traded for star center Ivica Zubac<\/a>. Without Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers have the second-worst record in the NBA. If the Pacers\u2019 pick lands somewhere from No. 5 to No. 9, it would go to the Clippers. With Indiana in position to add an impact player at the top of the draft, the ping pong balls still need to bounce their way to ultimately keep the selection.<\/p>\n With plenty at stake over the final 25 or so games of each team\u2019s season, here\u2019s a look at the current lottery picture and pick odds based on where all teams in the mix currently sit. Check back as the season moves along for an up-to-date look at the latest lottery movement.<\/p>\n Records are as of Feb. 23, at the conclusion of all games, and pick odds are via Tankathon<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pick<\/p>\n Team<\/p>\n Record<\/p>\n Top-four pick odds<\/p>\n No. 1 pick odds<\/p>\n 1<\/p>\n Sacramento Kings<\/p>\n 13\u201346<\/p>\n 52.1%<\/p>\n 14%<\/p>\n 2<\/p>\n Indiana Pacers<\/p>\n 15\u201343<\/p>\n 52.1%<\/p>\n 14%<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Brooklyn Nets<\/p>\n 15\u201341<\/p>\n 52.1%<\/p>\n 14%<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n Atlanta Hawks (via New Orleans)<\/p>\n 16\u201342 (NOP\u2019s record)<\/p>\n 48.1%<\/p>\n 12.5%<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n Washington Wizards<\/p>\n 16\u201340<\/p>\n 42.1%<\/p>\n 10.5%<\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n Utah Jazz<\/p>\n 18\u201340<\/p>\n 37.2%<\/p>\n 9%<\/p>\n 7<\/p>\n Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n 20\u201336<\/p>\n 32%<\/p>\n 7.5%<\/p>\n 8<\/p>\n Memphis Grizzlies<\/p>\n 21-35<\/p>\n 26.3%<\/p>\n 6%<\/p>\n 9<\/p>\n Chicago Bulls<\/p>\n 24\u201334<\/p>\n 20.3%<\/p>\n 4.5%<\/p>\n 10<\/p>\n Milwaukee Bucks<\/p>\n 24\u201331<\/p>\n 13.9%<\/p>\n 3%<\/p>\n 11<\/p>\n Charlotte Hornets<\/p>\n 27\u201331<\/p>\n 9.4%<\/p>\n 2%<\/p>\n 12<\/p>\n Oklahoma City Thunder (via L.A. Clippers)<\/p>\n 27\u201330 (LAC\u2019s record)<\/p>\n 7.1%<\/p>\n 1.5%<\/p>\n 13<\/p>\n San Antonio Spurs (via Atlanta)<\/p>\n 28\u201331 (ATL\u2019s record)<\/p>\n 4.8%<\/p>\n 1%<\/p>\n 14<\/p>\n Portland Trail Blazers<\/p>\n 28\u201330<\/p>\n 2.4%<\/p>\n 0.5%<\/p>\n Remaining strength of schedule for lottery teams<\/p>\n Front offices looking toward the draft would rather have a more difficult schedule to stack losses and subsequently increase lottery odds. Don\u2019t tell that to the players on the court, however. No matter the strange starting fives we might see down the final stretch, as key players on lowly teams are shut down, any group of NBA players plays to win.<\/p>\n Some players you\u2019ll see over the last part of the season are on 10-day contracts, fighting for their jobs with the opportunity given. That said, the majority of teams in position for a top draft pick won\u2019t have the personnel to win most nights.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at the remaining strength of schedule for all lottery teams. All data is according to Tankathon, <\/a>and strength of schedule rankings include the entire NBA (yes, playoff teams, too). Remember, a higher strength of schedule\u2014more games against strong teams and fewer \u201ctank-offs\u201d against fellow bottom-tier opponents\u2014is good for lottery teams. For example, the last-place Kings have a particularly easy remaining schedule, while the Pacers have a much tougher schedule that\u2019s more favorable for tanking.<\/p>\n Pick position<\/p>\n Team<\/p>\n Remaining strength of schedule (across entire NBA)<\/p>\n Number of games remaining<\/p>\n 1<\/p>\n Sacramento Kings<\/p>\n 29th<\/p>\n 23<\/p>\n 2<\/p>\n Indiana Pacers<\/p>\n 5th<\/p>\n 24<\/p>\n 3<\/p>\n Brooklyn Nets<\/p>\n 10th<\/p>\n 26<\/p>\n 4<\/p>\n New Orleans Pelicans (ATL owns pick)<\/p>\n 23rd<\/p>\n 24<\/p>\n 5<\/p>\n Washington Wizards<\/p>\n 4th<\/p>\n 26<\/p>\n 6<\/p>\n Utah Jazz<\/p>\n 21st<\/p>\n 24<\/p>\n 7<\/p>\n Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n 11th<\/p>\n 26<\/p>\n 8<\/p>\n Memphis Grizzlies<\/p>\n 6th<\/p>\n 26<\/p>\n 9<\/p>\n Chicago Bulls<\/p>\n 13th<\/p>\n 24<\/p>\n 10<\/p>\n Milwaukee Bucks<\/p>\n 16th<\/p>\n 27<\/p>\n 11<\/p>\n Charlotte Hornets<\/p>\n 20th<\/p>\n 24<\/p>\n 12<\/p>\n Los Angeles Clippers (OKC owns pick)<\/p>\n 28th<\/p>\n 25<\/p>\n 13<\/p>\n Atlanta Hawks (SAS owns pick)<\/p>\n 26th<\/p>\n 23<\/p>\n 14<\/p>\n Portland Trail Blazers<\/p>\n 30th<\/p>\n 24<\/p>\n More NBA on Sports Illustrated<\/p>\n Listen to SI\u2019s NBA podcast, Open Floor, below or on Apple<\/a> and Spotify<\/a>. Watch the show on SI\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tank season is in full swing. As the NBA heads into the fourth quarter of its regular season,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496059,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-496058","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496058","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496058"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496058\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496058"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496058"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496058"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}