NBA Tank Tracker: Losses Pile Up at Incredible Rate for Lottery Teams

The race toward the bottom of the NBA standings is heating up. As the NBA hopes to minimize tanking, the worst teams in the league are taking things in an opposite direction, losing games at incredible levels.

Heading into Wednesday’s light slate of games, the bottom 10 teams in the NBA were on a combined 40-game losing streak, an absurd stat brought to light by Yahoo Sports’ Tom Haberstroh. The Grizzlies, Jazz, Pacers and Bucks did their part Wednesday, extending the collective drought to 44 games.

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Unfortunately, something will have to give Thursday as the Jazz and Wizards meet in the nation’s capital, followed by a nightcap between the Pelicans and Kings. Someone has to win those games, I guess. Nevertheless, now's a good time to check in on the NBA's tank race with the whopping 44-game combined losing streak from the bottom 10 teams across the league.

Here’s where the race to the bottom currently stands with just over a month left in the regular season, plus some notable tanking moments we’ve seen from lottery teams along the way:

Current NBA draft lottery standings and odds

Each of the NBA’s bottom-three teams will have a 14% chance at the No. 1 pick and a 52.1% chance of remaining in the top four picks. Although odds are the same at the bottom, there’s still an incentive to finish with the worst record. The team with the worst record can drop to the fifth pick, while the team with the third-worst record can fall as low as seven. Think of the prize for the worst record as an added cushion should the lottery go sideways and teams with lower odds jump ahead.

The worst five teams are within 4 1/2 games of each other, which means there is room for considerable movement as the regular season reaches its conclusion. The Pelicans controversially traded their unprotected 2026 first-round pick to the Hawks at last year’s draft to acquire standout rookie big man Derik Queen. Although New Orleans is near the bottom of the standings, it has no incentive to keep losing. And to the Pelicans’ credit, they haven’t. Dejounte Murray returned and New Orleans went on a four-game winning streak before it dropped the past two games to the Clippers and the Lakers. The recent success took the New Orleans pick out of the bottom five of the standings. Atlanta’s front office certainly hopes the Pelicans take a slide back down the ladder, though.

Similarly, Indiana made a lottery gamble at the deadline when the Pacers traded for star center Ivica Zubac. Without Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers have the second-worst record in the NBA. If the Pacers’ pick lands somewhere from No. 5 to No. 9, it would go to the Clippers. With Indiana in position to add an impact player at the top of the draft, the ping pong balls still need to bounce their way to ultimately keep the selection.

With plenty at stake over the final chunk of the regular season, here’s a look at the current lottery picture and pick odds based on where all teams in the mix currently sit. Records are as of March 4, at the conclusion of all games, and pick odds are via Tankathon.

Pick	Team	Record	Top-four pick odds	No. 1 pick odds
1	Sacramento Kings	14–49	52.1%	14%
2	Indiana Pacers	15–47	52.1%	14%
3	Brooklyn Nets	15–46	52.1%	14%
4	Washington Wizards	16–45	48.1%	12.5%
5	Utah Jazz	18–44	42.1%	10.5%
6	Atlanta Hawks (via New Orleans)	19–44 (NOP’s record)	37.2%	9%
7	Dallas Mavericks	21–40	32%	7.5%
8	Memphis Grizzlies	23–38	26.3%	6%
9	Chicago Bulls	25–37	20.3%	4.5%
10	Milwaukee Bucks	26–35	13.9%	3%
11	Portland Trail Blazers	30–33	9.4%	2%
12	Oklahoma City Thunder (via L.A. Clippers)	30–31 (LAC’s record)	7.1%	1.5%
13	San Antonio Spurs (via Atlanta)	32–31 (ATL’s record)	3.8%	0.8%
14	Charlotte Hornets	32–31	3.4%	0.7%

Remaining strength of schedule for lottery teams

Front offices looking toward the draft would rather have a more difficult schedule to stack losses and subsequently increase lottery odds. Don’t tell that to the players on the court, however. No matter the strange starting fives we might see down the final stretch, as key players on lowly teams are shut down, any group of NBA players plays to win.

Some players you’ll see over the last part of the season are on 10-day contracts, fighting for their jobs with the opportunity given. That said, the majority of teams in position for a top draft pick won’t have the personnel to win most nights.

Here’s a look at the remaining strength of schedule for all lottery teams. All data is according to Tankathon, and strength of schedule rankings include the entire NBA (yes, playoff teams, too). Remember, a higher strength of schedule—more games against strong teams and fewer “tank-offs” against fellow bottom-tier opponents—is good for lottery teams. For example, we could see some movement at the top of the lottery because the Kings have one of the easiest remaining schedules, while the Pacers have one of the toughest. Don't put it past Sacramento to keep falling, though, as the Kings do own the NBA's worst record after all.

Pick position	Team	Remaining strength of schedule (across entire NBA)	Number of games remaining
1	Sacramento Kings	29th	19
2	Indiana Pacers	6th	20
3	Brooklyn Nets	23rd	21
4	Washington Wizards	8th	21
5	Utah Jazz	13th	20
6	New Orleans Pelicans (ATL owns pick)	12th	19
7	Dallas Mavericks	5th	21
8	Memphis Grizzlies	4th	21
9	Chicago Bulls	21st	20
10	Milwaukee Bucks	24th	21
11	Portland Trail Blazers	30th	19
12	Los Angeles Clippers (OKC owns pick)	26th	21
13	Atlanta Hawks (SAS owns pick)	20th	19
14	Charlotte Hornets	10th	19

Notable NBA tanking moments this season

Moments that help a tank toward the end of NBA seasons aren’t always obvious. That’s on purpose, as teams aren’t outwardly supposed to tank, but we all know it happens in one way or another once a season is over with games still left on the schedule. Tanking can reveal itself in a number of ways, from key players getting shut down for the remainder of the season to strange late-season signings and suspicious absences in the fourth quarter of close games.

Here’s how a punt toward the future has looked for lottery teams that have let us know where the organization stands by its actions.

Sacramento Kings:

Jan. 31: Kings trade guards Dennis Schröder and Keon Ellis to Cavaliers for De’Andre Hunter.
Feb. 18: Kings shut down stars Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine for the rest of the season.
Feb. 20: Kings shut down Hunter due to eye procedure.
Feb. 27: Kings say Keegan Murray will be re-evaluated in two weeks due to sprained ankle.

Indiana Pacers:

Feb. 12: Pacers fined six figures for sitting Pascal Siakam.
Feb. 17: Rule out Obi Toppin (foot) and Ivica Zubac (ankle) indefinitely.

Washington Wizards:

Feb. 6: Rule out Anthony Davis for rest of season after trade from Mavericks.
March 2: Star guard Trae Young has been out since he was dealt to Washington by the Hawks, but ESPN’s Shams Charania reports Young will make his Wizards debut March 5.
March 4: Kyshawn George sidelined up to three weeks with partially torn UCL.

Utah Jazz:

Feb. 12: Jazz fined for removing Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkić from game with lead in fourth quarter.
Feb. 12: Rule the newly acquired Jackson out for rest of season due to knee surgery.
Feb. 23: Rule Nurkić out for rest of season with nose procedure.
Feb. 24: Vince Williams Jr. tears ACL, out for remainder of season.
Feb. 26: Jazz say Markkanen will be re-evaluated in two weeks due to hip inflammation and bone bruise.

Dallas Mavericks:

Feb. 4: Deal Davis to Wizards, officially starting full rebuild around last year’s top pick Cooper Flagg.
Feb. 18: Star guard Kyrie Irving to miss full season for additional time to recover from torn ACL.
Feb. 28: Mavs waive Tyus Jones to create roster space for two-way guard Ryan Nembhard.

Memphis Grizzlies:

Feb. 3: Memphis enters full rebuild, trades Jackson to Jazz for three first-round picks and pu pu platter of players.
Feb. 18: Grizzlies say Ja Morant will miss at least two more weeks with elbow injury.

Chicago Bulls:

Feb. 5: At the trade deadline, Chicago acquired a myriad of guards like Anfernee Simons, Rob Dillingham and Jaden Ivey while sending out key players like Nikola Vučević, Ayo Dosunmu and Coby White.
Feb. 21: Bulls say Ivey will miss at least two weeks with knee soreness, while big man Zach Collins will miss the remainder of the year with toe surgery.

Teams not included above are either still in the play-in tournament picture or have not made a significant move to outwardly signify its tank. The Pelicans have no reason to outwardly tank since New Orleans owes its first-round pick to Atlanta.

NBA teams fined by league in its anti-tanking crusade

We’ve already seen multiple teams issued fines by the NBA for shutting players down during games. Still, that hasn’t stopped lottery teams from finding ways to lose games. Here’s a look at each fine levied by the NBA thus far:

Team fined	Fine amount	Reason
Utah Jazz	$500,000	Removing Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. from games
Indiana Pacers	$100,000	Sitting Pascal Siakam in a game the league believes he could have played in

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