As the NBA season nears its conclusion, the buzz around draft prospects is growing, but the real story might be the teams strategically losing their way to the top picks.
As the final games of the regular season approach, the league’s landscape is divided. At the top, contenders and surprise teams are fighting for playoff position. At the bottom, teams are going as far as benching healthy players to intentionally lose games.
According to the NBA standings, the Eastern Conference top teams include the Detroit Pistons, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers. In the Western Conference, the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder sit atop the standings, followed by the San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves.
With the NBA’s play-in tournament format keeping seeds seven through ten in postseason contention, even teams outside the top six in each conference can remain in the playoff picture.
While the play-in tournament has incentivised competition late into the season, it has also caused controversy with teams at the bottom of the standings, where franchises appear more focused on improving their draft position than winning games.
Several teams have drawn attention in recent weeks due to resting players or limiting “star” players’ minutes when those players are healthy. Recently, the NBA launched an investigation into the Milwaukee Bucks organization regarding the health and playing status of former league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. Allegedly, Antetokounmpo has told the Bucks organization that he is healthy and wants to play. The organization is holding him out because they are eliminated from playoff contention and are losing games intentionally, according to ESPN.
The Indiana Pacers and Utah Jazz faltered in similar ways. Both teams violated the league’s conduct regarding reducing minutes or sitting healthy starting players for games. The Pacers were fined $100,000, and the Jazz were fined $500,000, according to Yahoo Sports.
“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. “We will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games. Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”
With the regular season winding down and the playoffs set to begin next month, NBA teams face two very different priorities: preparing for a postseason run or positioning themselves for the future through the draft.
According to ESPN’s NBA draft big board, the top five prospects are the following: (1)
Darryn Peterson (Kansas) 6’6, 20.2 PPG; (2) AJ Dybantsa (BYU) 6’9, 25.5 PPG; (3) Cameron Boozer (Duke) 6’9, 22.5 PPG; (4) Caleb Wilson (North Carolina) 6’10, 19.8 PPG; and (5) Kingston Flemings (Houston) 6’4, 16.1 PPG.
With a highly anticipated draft class headlined by the players listed above, the incentive to secure a top pick has only intensified. As the regular season comes to a close, the divide between teams chasing championships and building for the future continues to define the NBA.