NBA Tanking Hits a New Low - And It’s Not Just the Kings
As we head into the All-Star break, the Sacramento Kings are sitting on a 14-game losing streak - tying the longest in franchise history - and they're far from alone in their descent down the standings. While the Kings’ 12-44 record puts them at the bottom of the NBA barrel, several teams are right there with them, seemingly more focused on May’s draft lottery than anything happening on the court right now.
Joining Sacramento in the race to the bottom are the Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Indiana Pacers, and Brooklyn Nets. That’s six teams - nearly a fifth of the league - all in prime position to land a top pick in what’s expected to be a loaded 2026 NBA Draft. And while rebuilding through the draft is nothing new, the sheer volume of teams leaning into the tank this early in the season is raising eyebrows across the league.
Let’s be clear: tanking isn’t a new concept. We’ve seen it before - most infamously with the Philadelphia 76ers and “The Process” era.
But what’s happening this season feels different. It’s not just one or two teams bottoming out.
It’s a full-on race to the bottom, with multiple franchises seemingly throwing in the towel before the All-Star break.
NBA insider Sam Amick recently joined The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross to weigh in on the current state of affairs. His take? This might be the most widespread tanking we’ve seen in years.
“This might be recency bias, but it does feel like the worst we’ve seen,” Amick said. “We’ve seen individual tank jobs that were more egregious, obviously the Sixers and their famous Process.
But this is so many teams. It’s like a race to the bottom, in spite of the flattening of the odds.”
That last point is key. The NBA’s decision to flatten the lottery odds was supposed to discourage tanking by giving teams with slightly better records a more realistic shot at the No. 1 pick.
In theory, that would reduce the incentive to lose as many games as possible. But in practice?
Not so much.
Since the lottery odds were flattened, the team with the worst record hasn’t landed the top pick a single time. Not once. And teams know it - but that hasn’t stopped the tanking.
Let’s take a quick trip down memory lane:
- 2019: The Knicks had the best odds and dropped to third. The Pelicans (7th-best odds) and Grizzlies (8th) jumped into the top two.
- 2020: Golden State had the worst record and ended up with the second pick. Minnesota, with the third-best odds, took the top spot.
- 2021: Detroit (2nd-best odds) got the No. 1 pick. Houston, with the worst record, finished second.
- 2022: The Rockets, again with the worst record, dropped to third. Orlando (2nd) and OKC (4th) leapfrogged them.
- 2023-2025: Each year, the team with the worst record slid all the way to the fifth pick - the lowest possible outcome under the current format.
So while the math says tanking doesn’t guarantee anything, the behavior hasn’t changed. If anything, it’s gotten more widespread.
Amick pointed out that this trend is starting to affect the product on the floor - and fans are noticing.
“That’s definitely going to be a topic of discussion,” he said. “It’s a big deal because your casual NBA fan doesn’t even realize that roughly 30 percent of the games right now aren’t on a level playing field.”
That’s a staggering figure. Nearly a third of games being played right now might not have both teams competing at full throttle. That’s not just bad for the standings - it’s bad for the league’s reputation, its TV product, and the fans who pay to watch.
“They’ve got to do something, here. It’s loud,” Amick added. “There’s going to be change coming.”
What that change looks like remains to be seen. Maybe it’s a new tweak to the lottery system.
Maybe it’s stronger penalties for teams that are clearly not trying to win. But one thing is clear: the current system isn’t working the way the league hoped it would.
With the All-Star break here and the second half of the season looming, don’t be surprised if the conversation around tanking gets even louder. Because right now, the race for the No. 1 pick is shaping up to be one of the most competitive - and troubling - storylines of the NBA season.