AROUND the NBA:

[F Gump]

I'm not focusing on a winning game strategy with my rotations, but that doesn't mean I message the players to intentionally lose games.

"We have players being told to lose" is a common  misperception of  tanking. 

No team, in the history of ever, tells (or would even dream of telling) their PLAYERS to intentionally lose games. Play hard, play the best you can, try to win -- those are always expected. (If a team tells their players to try to lose, that's ILLEGAL and can land both players and cosches and anyone else in on it in jail, banned from the NBA, etc. The gambling implications become huge as well. So players playing to lose is NOT part of the equation.)

How does a team tank? The coaches trot out really bad lineups and rotations, and alter minutes and combos of players. They can also find or manage injuries to completely sideline all their top players. (See Kyrie, AD, Lively, PJW.) I'm not suggesting injuries are faked, but there can be a lot of extra caution, and injury management, and vague answers, and lengthened return times, that conveniently work together to kill a team's record. 

Coaches (not player effort) are the key to tanking. But they aren't going to tank (and sabotage their future) unless upper management wants it to happen. It's a tricky world to live in. 

Fans don't get any say. Nor do players. It can be frustrating to watch as the bad play and losses pile up. Lots to criticize. 

We are likely to see the conjunction of an extra number of minutes given to young 3rd stringers to develop, and for some players to get showcase minutes to get good stats and maintain (or enhance) trade values. Glorified garbage time for big chunks of thr game. Odd substitutions where an effective combo doing well gets subbed for. 

The coaches can also play to the opponent. They can trot out tighter rotations and game approaches against the best teams, knowing that even at their best, the depleted lineup likely won't win. A win every so often is necessary because of player morale -- it's hard to lose game after game. Just manage the game a bit differently when playing against the dregs of the league. 

But in all of that, players are going to be pushed to play hard and coached to make shots and defend well. Always. That's a given. I still expect to see good plays, exciting shots made, positive signs, and more, in the middle of losses.