With the start of every NBA season comes rumors that struggling teams might lose on purpose for better draft positioning. Given the hype surrounding the 2023 draft class, including star prospects Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, those conversations already appear to be at a fever pitch to begin the 2022–23 season.
The discourse again found its way to NBA commissioner Adam Silver this week during a Q&A session with Suns employees during which he apologized for the league’s handling of embattled owner Robert Sarver, per a report from ESPN. Sarver received a one-year suspension and $10 million fine on Sept. 29 following a league investigation into workplace misconduct.
After a Suns employee reportedly asked Silver about tanking during the session, Silver said the NBA has “put teams on notice” and plans to pay “particular attention to the issue” as the season continues. Silver also shared with Suns employees that tanking is considered to be a “serious issue” around the league, one that has sparked “hundreds” of meetings.
The NBA’s apparent concern over teams not giving their best effort largely stems from the aura surrounding Wembenyama, the presumed No. 1 pick in the ’23 draft. The 7-foot-4 18-year-old already has been dubbed by many as a franchise-changing prospect who could immediately dominate.
Silver did not mention Wembanyama or any other prospect specifically during his response but made sure to note that, while a draft is a “good system” in principle, he could understand why teams would try to tank for a chance to land a “once-in-a-generation player.”
Still, Silver made it clear that the league feels tanking is “something we have to watch for.”
“Teams are smarter. They are creative, and they respond–we move, they move–so we’re always looking to see whether there’s yet a better system,” Silver added.
As the new season progresses, Silver and his constituents likely will continue to face questions about tanking as next year’s draft draws closer. In regard to a possible resolution to incentivize bad teams, Silver said the league has thought about relegation, but admitted it would be “destabilizing” to the NBA’s business model.
However, if this scenario were to come to fruition, Silver explained that relegation would potentially see one or two of the NBA’s worst teams demoted to the G League, while the one or two of the G League’s best squads would be promoted to the NBA.
“It would so disrupt our business model,” Silver said, per ESPN. “And even if you took two teams up from the G League, they wouldn’t be equipped to compete in the NBA.”
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