The irony of tanking is it doesn’t work. Sure, there are a few exceptions in the lottery era, most notably involving Gregg Popovich, whose long-term damage to the NBA includes being the Godfather of tanking, load management and condescension toward the media. But if you look at the recent history of champions and finalists, the best path to ultimate success is smart drafting and smart trading, not losing for a better draft position.
Amazingly, none of the last 20 NBA Finals MVPs was drafted with a top-4 pick from their respective teams. You have to go all the way back to Tim Duncan to find one. LeBron James would be an exception but he left the Cavaliers before re-signing and winning the title in 2016. So he doesn’t count.
In the last six years, you have Shai-Gilgeous Alexander (acquired by the Thunder in a trade), Jaylen Brown (drafted with a pick acquired in a trade), Nikola Jokic (drafted 41st overall by the Nuggets), Steph Curry (drafted 7th by the Warriors), Giannis Antetokounmpo (drafted 15th by the Bucks) and James (signed with the Lakers as a free agent).
Of all those championship squads, only the Thunder could be accused of benefitting from tanking. And there’s only one Sam Presti, whose foray into losing purposefully was short-lived and netted Chet Holmgren.
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