There were already were teams clearly in rebuild mode and racing to the bottom this season - do you think it’s a coincidence Danny Ainge blew up the Jazz this past summer? - and some other teams with some promising young talent (Houston, Orlando) that are fine losing a lot of games while those guys learn on the job. Of course, the Trail Blazers also can serve as a cautionary tale - they had the sixth-worst record in the league last season but fell to seventh in the draft. For example, think Portland from last season after Damian Lillard had surgery. It could make the NBA trade deadline in February wild as teams that started the season thinking playoffs but were out of the mix (due to injury or just not being good enough) pivot to tanking. Not this year - Wembanyama could add $500 million to the value of a franchise, one league executive told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. In a typical year, a front office may want to tank but their challenge is getting buy-in from ownership. This season there will be an epidemic of it around the league. They hate the idea of a fan base being told - or, worse yet, actively rooting for - their team to lose games.

The league office hates tanking and even a discussion of it. With multiple franchise cornerstone players available (and a deep draft at the top beyond those two), tanking will be an epidemic in the NBA.Īdam Silver, speaking in the United Arab Emirates before an NBA preseason game between the Bucks and Hawks, does not want to see teams tanking for Wembanyama.Īdam Silver on Victor Wembanyama: 'I know that many of our NBA teams are salivating at the notion that potentially through our lottery, they can get him, so they should all still compete very hard next season.' /sW93zDOFwG

He is a 7’4″ freak that LeBron James called an “alien” and a “generational talent,” and Stephen Curry said he was a “2K create-a-player.”Ĭombine that with the play of the Ignite’s Scoot Henderson - who had scouts using a young Derrick Rose comparison because of his athleticism, body control and skill - and the reaction in NBA circles was clear: There will be a “ race to the bottom” this season. Victor Wembanyama came to Las Vegas this week and put the hype machine into overdrive: In two games against the G-League Ignite he scored 73 points with 15 rebounds, nine blocks, hit 9-of-18 3-pointers (and 22-of-44 overall).

Rudys truck jam 2015