NBA Tanking Rankings: How the epic race to the bottom is shaping up ahead of March Madness

In lieu of our regularly scheduled bi-weekly NBA power rankings, and in honor of March Madness, we give to you, dear reader, our second annual tanking rankings.

It has been more than a month since the league fined the Utah Jazz ($500,000) and Indiana Pacers ($100,000) for blatant tanking efforts. Nobody has been penalized since, though as much as a third of the entire NBA has been tanking for some time.

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The race for the best odds to land BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Kansas’ Darryn Peterson and Duke’s Cameron Boozer, among other projected top-tier picks, is heating up ahead of the draft lottery on May 10, and we are here to serve you up a taste of the most likely candidates to land them — complete with a breakdown of their best tanking efforts.

Sure, one of the four teams to be ousted from the play-in tournament could still land a top-four pick, as the Dallas Mavericks did last season, securing Cooper Flagg atop the draft, despite holding just a 1.8% chance of acquiring that No. 1 overall selection.

(Grant Thomas/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

But, for now, it appears the teams still in the play-in hunt will be trying to climb those standings until regular season’s end. They are spared from our 2026 tanking rankings.

The 10th-place Charlotte Hornets own a six-win lead over the 11th-place Milwaukee Bucks in the East, and the 10th-place Portland Trail Blazers have a 10-win lead over the Memphis Grizzlies in the West, leaving these 10 teams as the cream of the crop in our tanking rankings, even if the first of them isn’t even really trying to tank at all …

10. New Orleans Pelicans (23-46)

Most recent starters: Trey Murphy III • Herb Jones • Saddiq Bey • Zion Williamson • Yves Missi (+16 in 57 minutes)

Since the All-Star break: 8-5 record • 117.2 offensive rating (11th) • 114.1 defensive rating (18th)

The Pelicans are not tanking, because they do not own their first-round draft pick, which was a massive mistake from the moment they made it. They dealt it for the right to move up 10 spots in last year’s draft and select Derik Queen at No. 13 overall.

Not that Queen was a bad pick. He is an All-Rookie candidate. But you do not give up what we all knew would be an unprotected lottery pick in 2026 for the chance to take him. Right now, the Atlanta Hawks, who now own the Pels’ pick, have a 34.5% chance at a top-four pick. Imagine what those odds might be if New Orleans tanked.

One nice thing about the lack of a tank in New Orleans: We got to witness the return of Dejounte Murray, who is averaging a 20-5-5 on 55/35/83 shooting splits in 27 minutes over eight games since coming back from a ruptured right Achilles tendon.

9. Milwaukee Bucks (28-39)

Most recent starters: Ryan Rollins • AJ Green • Kyle Kuzma • Giannis Antetokounmpo • Myles Turner (+59 in 99 minutes)

Since the All-Star break: 5-9 record • 110.4 offensive rating (24th) • 120.8 defensive rating (29th)

When Antetokounmpo is on the floor for the Bucks, they are outscoring opponents by 4.1 points per 100 meaningful possessions, according to Cleaning the Glass, operating like a 52-win team. When he is off the court, they are being outscored by 9.6 points per 100 non-garbage possessions, performing more like a 15-win outfit.

How do we know they are not tanking to their fullest? Well, Antetokounmpo returned from a calf strain to play six of their last eight games, including wins over the tanking Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers. Even on a minutes restriction, he averaged a 29-12-8 on better than 50% shooting in those two victories. He is not helping his own cause.

After all, even though the Bucks do not fully control their first-round pick, they will still keep it if the Pelicans land higher than them in the order. In other words, Milwaukee gets the worst pick between itself and New Orleans, and right now that is the 10th selection. The Bucks could climb up to the ninth spot with improved tanking.

But maybe Antetokounmpo does not care what pick Milwaukee lands in the 2026 draft. Maybe one foot is out the door already and the other will follow in the summer. If that is the case, can the Bucks afford to let Antetokounmpo play down the stretch?

8. Sacramento Kings (18-51)

Most recent starters: Killian Hayes • DeMar DeRozan • Nique Clifford • Precious Achiuwa • Maxime Raynaud (-11 in 20 minutes)

Since the All-Star break: 6-7 record • 111.3 offensive rating (22nd) • 117.4 defensive rating (23rd)

The Kings, mostly, have played Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan, trusting veterans to steward a tank. They did quite well, steering them into the worst record in the league. Only, the veterans have found themselves, along with a cast of plucky youngsters, fielding a .500 record for a few weeks since a 16-game losing streak.

That push has now left them with the NBA’s fourth-worst record, instead of its worst, which is not so bad in the era of flattened lottery odds. Instead of a 52.1% chance at a top-four pick, those odds have fallen to 48.1%, and they would drop to 42.1% if the Kings win a few more games and surpass the Jazz for the league’s fifth-worst record.

Which is probably why Sacramento signed Hayes on Sunday and immediately inserted him into the starting lineup. It did not help in a 116-111 victory over Utah.

7. Memphis Grizzlies (23-44)

Most recent starters: Walter Clayton • Rayan Rupert • Jaylen Wells • Cedric Coward • Olivier-Maxence Prosper

Since the All-Star break: 3-11 record • 114.4 offensive rating (15th) • 120.8 defensive rating (29th)

The newest tanking strategy: Just do not play a center at all. The Grizzlies were somewhat forced into this situation, after losing Zach Edey, though they did trade both Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jock Landale, either one of whom would have helped.

Their most common lineups with O-Max Prosper at center are getting walloped by 15.4 points per 100 meaningful possessions, and that is probably the point of playing a 6-foot-7 forward at a rim-protecting position. Since trading Jackson, the Grizzlies are 3-15, riding an eight-game losing streak, including losses to Chicago and Brooklyn.

It helps, of course, that Ja Morant is nursing an elbow injury. Or does it? The offense is performing 3.8 points per 100 non-garbage possessions better when he is off the court. Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo’s unique offensive strategy is yielding some interesting results, though he may never get to see them through with a good team.

6. Dallas Mavericks (23-46)

Most recent starters: Ryan Nembhard • Max Christie • Naji Marshall • Cooper Flagg • PJ Washington (+5 in 31 minutes)

Since the All-Star break: 4-11 record • 108.0 offensive rating (28th) • 118.4 defensive rating (25th)

The Mavericks are not tanking their hardest, mostly because Cooper Flagg is still pursuing the Rookie of the Year award. He returned from a sprained left foot at the start of the month to help Dallas to wins over Memphis and Cleveland in recent days.

It will take more than the 19-7-7 on 41/21/80 shooting splits Flagg has submitted over his last eight appearances, since his former Duke teammate, Kon Knueppel, is netting a nightly 19-5-3 on incredible efficiency (49/44/87) for a winning team in Charlotte. If you ask me, Knueppel is tough to beat for Rookie of the Year, even as Flagg exists.

It would be a nice consolation price for Flagg to be paired with another high-end lottery pick from this year’s loaded draft. As of now, Dallas is in position for the NBA’s sixth-worst record, but New Orleans and Memphis are lurking with 23 wins, too.

Dallas may have to get creative with its tank, which it has, playing center-less minutes with Washington in the middle. Those lineups — practically a must in the absence of Anthony Davis, who the Mavs dealt in an embrace of the tank at the deadline — are successfully being outscored by 20.3 points per 100 possessions.

5. Chicago Bulls (28-40)

Most recent starters: Tre Jones • Josh Giddey • Matas Buzelis • Leonard Miller • Jalen Smith (-4 in 27 minutes)

Since the All-Star break: 4-9 record • 108.8 offensive rating (26th) • 112.9 defensive rating (14th)

The Bulls embraced the tank when they traded Nikola Vučević, Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu for a handful of second-round picks at the deadline. Chicago coach Billy Donovan wanted the franchise to pick a direction, and the front office did, electing to tank the remainder of a season that began with some woebegotten optimism.

Only, Donovan cannot help himself. He is still squeezing some decent defense from this group, enough to challenge the Bucks for the league’s 10th-worst record, which would be a disaster when closer to the bottom of the standings was within reach.

4. Utah Jazz (20-48)

Most recent starters: Isaiah Collier • Elijah Harkless • Cody Williams • Andersson Garcia • Brice Sensabaugh (-4 in 15 minutes)

Since the All-Star break: 2-10 record • 111.1 offensive rating (23rd) • 118.4 defensive rating (24th)

Seemingly every night, Jazz coach Will Hardy is fielding lineups we’ve never seen before, like the one he started on Sunday night, featuring Garcia, the undrafted rookie whom they signed from the G League to a 10-day contract this past week.

The Jazz have talent. They just do not play it. Jaren Jackson Jr., Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler, among others, make nightly appearances on the injury report. Rising stars Keyonte George and Ace Bailey have also navigated their way to the sidelines.

Some of it is a natural occurrence of injury. Some of it is strategic. All of it helps the Jazz complete a tank job that would be admirable if others were not out-losing them.

3. Brooklyn Nets (17-51)

Most recent starters: Nolan Traoré • Drake Powell • Ziaire Williams • Danny Wolf • Nicolas Claxton (-19 in 17 minutes)

Since the All-Star break: 2-13 record • 104.5 offensive rating (30th) • 119.9 defensive rating (26th)

The Nets used all five of their first-round draft picks, selecting a hodgepodge of ball-handlers, in what was the first sign of many that they would be tanking this season.

They have, for the most part, entrusted those ball-handlers to guide them to the league’s worst offensive rating — by far — since the All-Star break. It has helped that Michael Porter Jr., their All-Star-caliber offensive talent, has missed the last three games to an ankle injury. Brooklyn must welcome short-term setbacks like that.

For three straight games, the Nets have failed to score 100 points. Only the Bucks and Kings have matched that streak this season. No team has failed to score 100 points in four straight games this season … yet. Brooklyn hosts the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder — and the league’s best defense — on Wednesday night.

2. Washington Wizards (16-51)

Most recent starters: Trae Young • Tre Johnson • Bilal Coulibaly • Will Riley • Julian Reese (-3 in 10 minutes)

Since the All-Star break: 2-12 record • 110.3 offensive rating (25th) • 120.7 defensive rating (27th)

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