The NBA will face a “drunk” in the fourth quarter…

As the NBA investigates ten Thunder absentees (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lou Dort, etc.) against the Spurs in a nationally televised game last week, will Adam Silver address the new forms of “tanking” developing in the Big League?

Aw Jazz and that Wizardsthis season we are no longer aiming for anything, and already the fourth quarter looks like a big race towards the “lottery”. Fresh off his arrival in Salt Lake City, Jaren Jackson Jr. has already played in two close games … during which he didn’t step on the floor in the last round. Against Orlando and Miami, the All-Star stayed on the bench for the final 12 minutes, with Lauri Markkanen and Jusuf Nurkic.

Asked if he thought about restarting his “frontcourt” at the end of the match against the Heat, Will Hardy answer briefly “no” at the press conference…

Ironically, his team beat the Heat and Bam Adebayo made fun of the fact that it was his team “I had to find ways to beat teams that were trying to lose”. Because this Utah strategy clearly looks like “tanking” in disguise, especially since the Jazz coach doesn’t even call timeouts in these late games.

wizards, we seem to be applying the same strategyeven if it sometimes rubs off on the team, and we’re in no rush to put Trae Young or Anthony Davis on the field.

“I thought it was an opportunity to play with our guys and give them playing time in the decisive moments” vindicated Brian Keefewho therefore released Bilal Coulibaly, Khris Middleton, Bub Carrington and even Marvin Bagley III in the middle of the third quarter against the Kings. No restarts in the final period to end the matchup with Will Riley, AJ Johnson, Anthony Gill, Scales Labissiere and Sharif Cooper, a group much more used to G-League ballparks than the NBA…

The NBA continues to consider antidotes

Obviously, the explanation comes from the following draft, with the Top 3 heralded as particularly strong (Derrin Peterson, Cameron Boozer, AJ Dibanca) and why all the teams at the bottom of the table are salivating.

Except on Pelicans (15-40) who are not interested in “tanking” since their pick will go to the Hawks, the other clubs have every interest in maximizing their chances of finishing in the Top 3 in the 2026 draft. This concerns Kings (12-43), c Pacers (14-40), c Wizards (14-38), c Networks (15-37) or even Mavericks (19-34) i Grizzlies (20-32).

It might even worry Bucks (21-30) i Bulls (24-30), even if they have less interest in it and maybe start a little too high.

anyway, Mark Stein assures that the committee responsible for changing the rules in the NBA discussed new ways to limit “tanking” in January. Certainly, the smoothing of probabilities and the creation of matchups have limited this phenomenon, as teams no longer want to occupy the bottom of the league for several years. On the other hand, they continue to give up the second part of the season, as soon as the draft is attractive enough…

As for the NBA, its leverage seems limited against these abuses. Its “Player Involvement Policy” focuses on star absences during nationally televised matches, not on match turnovers, and even if its constitution theoretically allows Adam Silver to sanction when a match “ends otherwise than on merit”, his capacity to act remains unclear in this context.