The NBA has long grappled with less-than-competitive basketball, and the immediate impact of the Draft and its best players is being felt earlier than ever.
For many reasons, the NBA is unique among American sports. Both MLB and the NHL have a minor league system, and even the games' top prospects might not make their big-league debut for several years after being drafted. The NFL, meanwhile, boasts massive rosters, and one player is usually not as big a difference-maker.
In the NBA, rosters are smaller, and teenage rookies can make a massive impact. Just look at the Dallas Mavericks, who are led by the league's youngest player, Cooper Flagg.
As a result of the impact rookies can make, teams shamelessly try to lose games to land a top player. It's how Victor Wembanyama ended up on the San Antonio Spurs.
However, some teams, namely the Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, have tanked for years on end, prompting some to call for the abolition of the draft as a whole.
Mark Cuban Weighs In On Tanking Debate
For most of the 21st century, the Dallas Mavericks have been solid. Sure, they had some lean years as Dirk Nowitzki aged, and the last two seasons have been forgettable, but for the most part, the Mavericks were one of the better teams in the league.
Aside from a few blatant efforts at the start of their rebuild, the Mavericks have avoided tanking, although minority owner Mark Cuban--who owned the team for two decades outright--thinks bad teams don't have any other option. In his mind, it's an inevitability.
" Fans know their team can’t win every game," Cuban posted on social media. "They know only one team can win a ring. What fans that care about their team’s record want is hope. Hope they will get better and have a chance to compete for the playoffs and then maybe a ring. The one way to get closer to that is via the draft. And trades. And cap room. You have a better chance of improving via all 3, when you tank."
Cuban went on to admit that his Mavericks did tank when it benefited them, and reiterated that players don't tank, organizations do.
Would the 2023 Spurs rather have finished with the 11th-best record in the West, or landed Wembanyama? Would the Mavericks, that same season, rather get bounced early in the playoffs or land Dereck Lively II?
This season, the draft is headlined by elite players like Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, and Cameron Boozer. Would teams like the Jazz, Wizards, and Mavericks rather win 32 games and miss the playoffs, then pick eighth, or have a shot at a franchise-altering player?
Until the league abolishes the lottery and actually gives the worst teams the best picks, some unfortunate franchises will be stuck in a cycle of losing, and hoping, and then losing all over again.