NBA investigating Mavericks for possible tanking

The Mavericks still had a chance to reach 10th place and the play-in tournament going into Friday night's game against the Chicago Bulls. But they sat a number of their top players, including Kyrie Irving, and sat Luka Doncic after his first basket of the second quarter. Dallas benched five of its top eight players in all and sat two more for the second half.

There were two blatant examples of in-game tanking. First, Jaden Hardy hit a buzzer-beater before halftime to give the Mavericks a 13-point lead. He was benched for the rest of the game.

The short-handed Mavericks still managed to rally at the end of the game, but missed a number of game-tying shots in the final seconds. After Theo Pinson missed one, owner Mark Cuban visibly celebrated the loss from his courtside seats.

The Mavericks also planned to only play Doncic for one quarter, even though it was a night celebrating his home country of Slovenia. Then, they kept him in to get a bucket in the second, hoping the crowd would give him an ovation. They didn't.

Cuban is a prolific tweeter, but he hasn't commented on the Mavericks' blatant tanking. Perhaps that's because in 2018, the NBA fined Cuban $600K for admitting that Dallas was tanking. On a podcast, he told Julius "Dr. J" Erving that he told his players, "Losing is our best option."

It probably was their best option, as the Mavericks' No. 5 draft position allowed them to trade up for Doncic. But the NBA doesn't want teams to openly try to lose — especially with the league's increased partnerships with gambling web sites. Plus, it's one thing to tank for a high lottery pick. The Mavericks are tanking in hopes of keeping the No. 10 pick, which they would owe the Knicks next year instead. That's not much consolation for the Dallas fans. 

Cuban may have more than the NBA to worry about. According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, team officials fear Doncic could request a trade as early as next summer if his frustration with the Mavs continues. Friday night's debacle isn't going to help things, especially after Doncic said Tuesday that he wanted to keep trying as long as his team had a chance at the playoffs.

The league hates brazen tanking. So does Doncic.