Adam Silver on Tanking

[GOBB]

It's not just about the 1st overall pick. Getting a top 5 pick gives you a shot at a future all star. Most teams don't have the luxury of signing superstar free agents and it's pretty hard to get a star through trade. The draft is how small market teams have any shot of competing.

It's how most teams are actually competing/good. Just the way the system is designed. Franchise players are key to success in most cases. The best players in the NBA come from the top of the draft. Teans wants that.

[Audio One]

Tanking isnt a problem at all. Just ignore the tanking teams. The greater problem in the NBA is that franchise stay terrible for long periods of time

Eg. lack of parity

and 2 the NBA does a poor job scheduling attractive games for national television.

The NFL has tanking too. its the most popular and profitable american league by a wide margin.

The NBA should move away from max contracts and towards a hard cap and a salary floor. (this alone would eliminate super teams, and better distribute talent around the league)

Its easy for great players to take less money if they know that they have a maximum they can make. With no maximum an indivdual can make and only a maximum for a team, it will be harder for them to team up.

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[Foster5k]

In general, I think people over estimate the need for parity. Look at the MLB. They seem to have decent parity. However, the ratings still are lack luster. Super teams are great for the league. They add new fans and new haters. They give people a target to point at and discuss their likes and dislikes, etc. If anything, the NBA needs more star players and more super teams.

[sammichoffate]

This is just my opinion. Top 5 Picks of the last 10 years:

2004
All-Stars:
Dwight Howard
Devin Harris

Busts:
Emeka Okafor(Taken #2, otherwise he's had a good career)
Ben Gordon
Shaun Livingston(We can only imagine how good he could've been)

2005
All-Stars:
Deron Williams
Chris Paul

Busts:
Marvin Williams

2006
All-Stars:
LaMarcus Aldridge

Busts:
Andrea Bargnani
Adam Morrison
Tyrus Thomas
Sheldon Williams

2007
All-Stars:
Kevin Durant
Al Horford

Busts:
Greg Oden(Injuries)

2008
All-Stars:
Derrick Rose
Russell Westbrook
Kevin Love

Busts:
Michael Beasley
O.J. Mayo

2009
All-Stars:
Blake Griffin
James Harden

Busts:
Hasheem Thabeet
Ricky Rubio

2010
All-Stars:
John Wall

Busts:
Evan Turner
Derrick Favors
Wesley Johnson

2011
All-Stars:
Kyrie Irving

Busts:
Derrick Williams

2012
All-Stars:
Anthony Davis

Busts:
Thomas Robinson
Dion Waiters

2013
All-Stars:
None

Busts:
None

15 All-Stars to 19 Busts, the odds are about 50% depending on whether or not you think certain players here are busts. Based on this, top 5 picks don't always guarantee success. Hell, developing younger talent while trying to win would be better than tanking and restricting the growth of your players. Many players who became all-stars from these drafts actually came OUTSIDE the top 5, like Curry and Derozan. Losing in the first round isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be, it gives younger players the chance to get playoff experience(Jimmy Butler, Paul George).

[sportsfan76]

Name one successful team that actively "tanked" during the past decade or two. Tanking is different than being bad. It's one thing to put together the best team possible and lose, it's another to try to lose on purpose.

Lakers don't tank.
Celtics didn't tank to win their chip.
Mavs didn't tank
Spurs didn't actively tank for Duncan, they were just missing their best player in Robinson.
Heat didn't tank.

That's more than half of the championships right there, how is tanking smart? Not only it discourages losing, you're not developing/disciplining players correctly. It's much smarter to sign good players and develope chemistry together. Obviously be smart with signings and don't overpay players, but that's what you've got to do to succeed in this league.

The Sixers are going nowhere, with their 3 years of tanking they're not really looking good. Neither are the wolves.

As soon as the Heat got Wade in 03 they put a team around him to win.
Same with Lebron (though the cavs management sucked). At least they didn't "tank" another few years to pair them together with another prospect which almost never lead to good results.

Good teams don't tank. Not to mention the owner is basically throwing away the season and probably losing profits during a tanking season. Nothing good really comes out of it.

Which confirms it's not a such thing as tanking and wish everybody shut the f*ck up about it.