in last year’s draft; who will Mark Cuban target this time around? (Tony Gutierrez/AP)
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is embracing the tank, but only for this season. He admitted that his team tanked last season too, so at least he’s being honest – and open with the players. On Julius Erving’s House Call With Dr. J podcast, Cuban revealed that he told the Mavs players that losing is the best option (transcribed by NBC Sports):
I’m probably not supposed to say this, but I just had dinner with a bunch of our guys the other night. And here we are, we weren’t competing for the playoffs. I was like, “Look, losing is our best option.” Adam would hate hearing that, but at least I sat down, and I explained it to them. And I explained what our plans were going to be this summer, that we’re not going to tank again. This was a year-and-a-half tanking, and that was too brutal for me.
But being transparent, I think that’s the key to being kind of a players owner and having stability.
The 2018 NBA Draft class projects to be one of the best we’ve seen in years, and the Mavs wanting to tank for a guy like Luka Doncic, DeAndre Ayton, Mohamed Bamba or Marvin Bagley makes a lot of sense, and plenty of teams are doing the same thing. It’s Cuban’s candidness here that is so unique; it’s rare to see a team owner or executive openly admit to trying to lose games.
Furthermore, Cuban’s comment about keeping his players in the loop insinuate that this tanking is happening at the player level, not just the organizational level tanking is generally assumed to occur at.
Currently, the Mavs are 18-40, the third-worst record in the league. Only Atlanta and Phoenix are worse off, and just barely – they’re both 18-41.
The race to the bottom is an extremely tight one right now; the first through seventh seeds are separated by a game.
(UPDATE 2/21/18) Mark Cuban has been fined $600,000 for his comments about tanking. The largest fine he has ever received from the NBA.
NBA has fined Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban $600,000 for his recent tanking comments. pic.twitter.com/LgPmzZV6ze
— Rob Lopez (@r0bato) February 21, 2018
