Did the Dallas Mavericks tank for a better draft pick this season? The evidence is pretty damning.
From the Shark Tank to legitimately tanking in the NBA season, the Dallas Mavericks’ brass better be prepared to field some questions. The NBA is reportedly investigating whether the Mavs tanked at the end of the 2022-23 season to gain a more desirable draft pick.
On Saturday, NBA spokesman Mike Bass said the league would look into the “acts and circumstances surrounding the Dallas Mavericks’ roster decisions and game conduct,” with the game in question being the Mavs’ recent 115-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
In that narrow defeat, the Mavs curiously sat their entire starting rotation which included Kyrie Irving, Maxi Kleber, Tim Hardaway Jr., Josh Green, and Christian Wood. Star Luca Doncic played 12 minutes in the first half before being taken out of the game for good.
Foul play? Definitely.
Mavs head coach Jason Kidd claimed he sat his starters for “rest,” and earlier this month it was indeed rumored that Doncic and Irving may be shut down for the final several games of the season.
NBA is rightfully investigating Mavericks after Dallas sat its starters in loss to Bulls
But Kidd benched the whole starting lineup for a gotta-win-it game against the Bulls.
The Mavs ultimately did what the Houston Texans failed to so easily accomplish in their final game of the 2022 season: tank for a higher draft pick.
Any rookie sleuth can pinpoint Dallas’ motive for tanking. Heading into Friday’s game, the Mavericks had a chance to make the play-in tournament but only a slim one. Dallas was vying against the Oklahoma City Thunder for the final 10th spot, and OKC held the tiebreaker — that meant the Mavericks needed to win their final two games and the Thunder needed to lose their final game of the season.
In addition, the Mavs may have had to cough up a first-round pick if they made the playoffs. They owed the New York Knicks a first-rounder that was top-10 protected; by losing to the Bulls, Dallas is primed to get a 10th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft lottery. How convenient.
Even though concerns for Doncic and Irving’s health are slightly valid, sitting them and the other starters for the majority of a must-win game is tanking at its finest, and the NBA should absolutely be investigating the Mavs organization, savvy entrepreneur Mark Cuban included. The proof is in the pudding.