Anonymous NBA general manager says team plans to tank
Kansas freshman Andrew Wiggins is expected to be a top pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
The season of tanking has begun in the NBA.
One NBA general manager says his team plans to tank all season in order to secure one of the top prospects expected to declare for the NBA Draft next season.
In an article written for ESPN the Magazine, the GM justifies his logic by saying "the last place you want to be is in the middle."
"Our team isn't good enough to win and we know it. So this season we want to develop and evaluate our young players, let them learn from their mistakes -- and get us in position to grab a great player. The best way for us to do that is to lose a lot of games. This draft is loaded. There are potential All-Stars at the top, maybe even franchise changers. Sometimes my job is to understand the value of losing.
We're not alone. Look at the 76ers. Since the draft in June, I don't think they've signed a player or made a trade to add a legitimate player. A bunch of us realize that our teams aren't good enough talentwise to do anything. You're going to be bad. There's no way around it. And even if you finish 0-82, there's still a 75 percent chance you don't get the No. 1 pick. We're just going to take our lumps and hope our number gets called."
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By that statement, one can assume it's not the 76ers general manager that wrote the piece. They are expected to be one of the worst teams in the league.
