NBA: To Tank Or Not to Tank?

Dec 13, 2013; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Eric Bledsoe controls the ball in the second half against the Sacramento Kings at US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Kings 116-107. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

NBA — “Tanking” is something I generally have no patience for and is in general a shady strategy that often backfires or is indeed negated by the bounce of a Ping Pong ball. But holy moly, if ever there were a year to throw your sanctimonious defiance of soft cheating out the window, well then, this would be that year! Draft experts downplay the impact of the incoming rookies, shooting off buzzwords like “weak draft” and “raw but uh, you know, athletic” and even damning praise like “a four year college player with uh, good fundamentals”. This year? Not so much.

The NBA world is salivating at the idea of the 2014 class. Andrew Wiggins, Julius Randle, Jabari Parker, Dante Exum, Marcus Smart, and others still form a rare draft class worth dishonorable unsportsmanlike conduct. They are practically shadow NBA players already. We know their names, their strengths and weaknesses, which teams they should join…A few teams in the NBA find themselves at a crossroads. Playoffs or lottery? Stay the course or abandon ship? So let us ask the question Hamlet might have put forth, had he been an NBA general manager…To Tank or Not To Tank?