Blatant tanking tactics spark league-wide controversy. Fines mount, but the pursuit of top draft picks could fundamentally alter NBA draft rules.
Tanking has been the talk of the NBA recently due to lottery teams intentionally resting entire rotations and pulling starters when close to a win.
For example, Utah led Orlando by seven points entering the fourth quarter during their Feb. 7 matchup largely because Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen scored a combined 49 points on 21-of-38 shooting from the field (55.2%). Although both former All-Stars were on heaters, the Jazz did not play them for a single minute in the fourth quarter and subsequently lost the game by three points.
Indiana is also under the spotlight. Pascal Siakam, Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith have each missed two games since Jan. 19, and they were the exact same contests – Utah on Feb. 3 and Brooklyn on Feb. 11. Surely it’s just a coincidence that the only two games these players missed in the span of nearly a month happened to occur at the same time and come against teams that are also tanking for a top pick in the 2026 Draft.
Behaviors that improve lottery odds have always been around in the NBA, especially when the upcoming talent pool is loaded like the 2026 Draft. Every team has done it at some point to some degree. Oklahoma City shut down Al Horford for the team’s final 28 games of the 2021 season.
However, this season contains such egregious and blatant tanking tactics among more teams than usual to the point where NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is raising ideas about fundamental changes to the draft process. In the meantime, the league is fining teams that are deemed to be deploying tactics that undermine the integrity of the NBA. For instance, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Feb. 12 that “the NBA has fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000 related to the management of their rosters for recent games.”
Fines at these amounts will not change anything because drafting a superstar can potentially increase a team’s revenue by hundreds of millions of dollars. Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg are prime examples. But at least it’s a step in the right direction and signals that the NBA is fed up with tanking.
Utah’s first game after the All-Star break is against a Grizzlies squad that also wants to lose. Memphis only has two more wins this season than Utah, so this contest has enormous implications for lottery odds in the 2026 Draft. The Jazz also end this month with a pair of contests against a New Orleans squad that has three fewer wins than Utah this season.
It will be interesting to see whether Utah immediately risks Silver’s wrath or instead lets the heat die down. Sam Presti will be watching because Oklahoma City receives Utah’s upcoming first-round pick if it does not land in the top eight. Presti realistically needs seven teams to finish with a worse record than the Jazz in order for the Thunder to have a decent chance of collecting the pick. As of this moment, Utah has the sixth-fewest wins but could easily drop to eighth with Dallas and Memphis on its heels.