Tanks for everything

Losing on purpose works in the NBA. The 2022-23 Mavericks prove it. The 2021 and 2022 Thunder really prove it.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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Fate of the Animals; Franz Marc; 1913

Last year, all the talk around this time centered on the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to not compete in a couple of games when they were technically still alive for a possible play-in berth. The odds to make the play-in were long, and the odds to advance once there were longer. The other end of the rope: the Mavericks owed a draft pick out unless it landed in the top 10. Missing the play-in went a long way to keeping it in-house. And so it goes. I was among those gnashing their teeth about a novel way to tank. Never before had we seen a team opt out of the postseason race when hope remained even narrowly alive. But then again, the play-in is still new and fresh. It could happen again in similar circumstances.

And certainly the Mavericks — the hottest team in the Western Conference, a potential conference finals contender — are no worse for the long-term wear. Dereck Lively II, their lottery pick, is a real contributor on this team. The gambit worked.

It worked too in 2021 and 2022, when the Oklahoma City Thunder were rather shameless in their tanking activity.