The Oklahoma City Thunder have employed some controversial strategies to tank.
There is no doubt that the majority of NBA franchises require lottery picks, preferably top-5 picks to eventually build a championship-level roster. Of course, there are teams that can sign high-level free agents, such as the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the majority of NBA franchises build competitive teams through the NBA draft.
There are a lot of times when teams try to become as bad as possible to increase their chances of getting a high draft pick. While that strategy doesn't always result in the team getting a top-3 pick, it certainly increases the chances of that happening.
A team that is currently in a rebuilding process is the Oklahoma City Thunder. They are obviously a young team that is simply trying to get a competitive product on the floor. Recently, NBA insider Jake Fischer criticized the team for its tanking strategy, claiming that they were openly sitting "healthy players" or exaggerating injuries.
With OKC doing this year-after-year in a small market that’s not supposed to be paying into the revenue sharing system, the league has pretty much turned a blind eye.
What the Thunder did with Al Horford and with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is far more egregious and far more “tanky” than anything Sam Hinkie’s 76ers ever did.
They didn’t openly sit healthy players or turn a little ankle sprain into a season-ending malady.
There is no doubt that there is some truth to Fischer's words. The Oklahoma City Thunder have genuinely put out a poor product at times, by excessively resting their players even if they were healthy. Hopefully, that strategy pays off for the team in the future, but it's clearly affecting the product that they put on the court right now.
There Might Be A Lot Of Tanking For Victor Wembanyama
Victor Wembanyama is widely viewed as the No. 1 overall prospect in the 2023 NBA Draft, and it is easy to see why. He has elite size and skill, and that combination could eventually make him the best player in the world.
There is no doubt that a lot of teams would love to have Victor Wembanyama on their roster. One GM who spoke to ESPN revealed that Wembanyama might "start a race to the bottom like we've never seen".
As impressive as Henderson's potential appears as a franchise lead guard, it is Wembanyama's unprecedented combination of size, skill and substance at 18 years old that mesmerized the approximately 200 NBA executives and scouts in attendance in suburban Las Vegas and reaffirmed beliefs that this promises to be a transformational player and historic NBA Draft. "Victor distorts basketball reality," one GM told ESPN on Wednesday. "The tank/trade market will really shift after that showing. It feels like last night will start a race to the bottom like we've never seen."
Hopefully, we do see Victor Wembanyama become that franchise-altering prospect at some point in the future. There are a number of teams that could potentially land him, and we'll see where he ends up.
It will be interesting to see what lengths teams will go to, in order to have a chance at Victor Wembanyama. The Oklahoma City Thunder will definitely be in the mix for the big man, and perhaps he will be the final piece to their rebuild.
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