03-05-2026, 11:12 AM
(03-05-2026, 10:21 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: ....but next year no team is probably going to tank in a weaker draft. This year is just really unique.
Yes this year is different because there are more incentives to tank (with the greater shot at landing a really good player, if you have a top 5 or so pick, since there are more really good players to pick from). A lot of teams really want to do whatever they can to get the best pick they can get.
However, I just can't buy the idea that there will be no tanking for the 2027 draft. It may not be as widespread as this season, because some of those bad teams are likely to aim for a play-in opportunity instead, or they may be more subtle about it, but it will happen. And how will you be able to tell, whether a team is tanking or whether they are just awful? But some teams will give up on the season, and chase a pick because they might as well.
There are already 2-3 players expected to be really good (Williams and Branch are a couple of names) and it only takes one or two more players to change the perception of whether you want a top pick or not. Some players will emerge. The players in that draft are in high school right now. Some will have growth spurts. Some will seem to develop from nowhere. Some will be the cream of the crop as NCAA competition has players putting up stats all year next season. But no matter what, some teams will be muddling along at the bottom of the league next season and have nothing to chase. They might as well get the best pick they can.