State your case: Should teams deliberately tank seasons to improve draft stock?
NO
by Emily Duke
#TankForWiggins. The hashtag started trending on Twitter before the NBA season even started. With the deep 2014 NBA Draft class, including Duke’s Jabari Parker and Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins, there has been a lot of talk about teams “tanking” the current season for better better draft stock in the upcoming year.
Is this a program building strategy owners and coaches should endorse? The obvious answer is no.
Besides the fact that fans deserve the best their team can give on any given day, anyone who follows sports will tell you losing breeds a mentality of losing in the long run.
Mike Krzyzewski of Duke said it perfectly when asked about the subject: “As an American, I wouldn’t like to think that an American team would [ever] want to lose or create situations where you would want to lose.”
He added: “If that is happening, shame on whoever is doing it.”
But, does it even work? Assuming the point of tanking a season is to obtain the No. 1 draft pick, how many of those picks have led their teams to a title in the the past 20 years?
From 1993-2012, only one No. 1 pick has led his draft team to a title. Tim Duncan, No. 1 pick in ’97, led the Spurs to the ’99 title and several more titles since. Lebron James, the No. 1 pick in 2003, is the only other No. 1 with a title at all, but it wasn’t with the team that drafted him. Sorry Cleveland.
Even if we assume every team in the last 20 years to get a No. 1 pick tanked the previous season to do it, it’s not a very effective strategy.
-mled94@gmail.com
Twitter: @emily_seamqueen
YES
by Calvin Makelky
Yes, there are certain times when a sports team should tank. The perfect example of this is in the NBA this season. The 2014 draft class is full of potential franchise-changers in Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, Marcus Smart and Julius Randle.
NBA teams have two ways improving, either through the draft or via free agency. Teams in small markets though, like the Utah Jazz, cannot lure big time free agents; therefore, they must acquire star talent through the draft.
So this year, teams like Jazz had two options: sign veterans and hope to slip in as a seventh or eighth seed in the playoffs, or let them walk and center the team on a young, inexperienced core. Option one has no chance of winning a championship anytime soon, while the second option allows the players with a future to gain experience and obtain a high draft pick in the process. This allows them to add a potential superstar, which every championship team must have.
Once a team is having a poor year, why try to win? The 2011 Minnesota Vikings would have had the second pick in the 2012 NFL Draft if they hadn’t won the last game of year. Instead, they won and missed out on picking Robert Griffin III. Can you imagine a backfield with RGIII and Adrian Peterson? Winning with the season already lost does not help a pro sports team – rather, it hurts the team.
Some people say tanking is wrong because it hurts fan support, yet what will the Jazz fanbase say after getting Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker? Fans must realize tanking teams are trying to become great. It takes time, and being a middle-of-the-road team is the worst position to be in.
-cmakelky@gmail.com
Twitter: @makelky