NBA tanking surge: field G‑League players, lose big
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- Utah Jazz signed undrafted guard Andersson Garcia to a 10‑day contract in early March, gave him 169 minutes across five games, then released him a day after he never left the floor, while the team was outscored by 69 points during his time.
- Memphis Grizzlies set an NBA‑record by using 25 different players this season and recently added mid‑tier G‑League talent Lucas Williamson, Adama Bal and Lawson Lovering as part of a tanking strategy.
- Oklahoma City Thunder signed Georgios Kalaitzakis, Melvin Frazier and Zavier Simpson for the final four games of the 2021‑22 season, playing them roughly 40 minutes each night, and were outscored by 85, 92 and 95 points respectively while on the floor.
- Washington Wizards fielded 2024 No. 2 pick Alex Sarr for 22 minutes before he fouled out, despite a minutes‑cap explanation, as the team sought to retain a top‑eight protected draft pick owed to the New York Knicks.
- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver warned that the line between legitimate rebuilding and tanking has become “almost impossible” to discern and pledged to “fix it,” after the league fined the Jazz $500,000 for benching Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in close games.
- NBA recorded a 13.1‑point average margin of victory this season—the widest spread in history—and a record 89 games decided by 30 or more points, reflecting the competitive impact of tanking strategies.
Why it matters: Teams that successfully tank secure higher lottery odds and potentially franchise‑changing talent, while fans endure uncompetitive games, record blowout margins, and a widening gap between winning and losing, eroding the league’s credibility and intensifying pressure on the NBA to enforce stricter anti‑tanking rules.
