Love this take. Tanking is a necessity. It is the only way small market teams can acquire elite talent. We will never see players like Giannis, Bron, etc want to go play in Utah or Charlotte. Big markets have the free agency and trade advantage. Small markets in less desirable locations need the draft. I think it’s no coincidence that the true bottom teams the last few years all just so happened to drop in the lottery as far as possible. And now look at them. They are still bad. Not saying the lottery is rigged but it’s definitely a coincidence that the tanking teams never land the top picks.
Losing on purpose as a strategy will destroy the sport. That is how I view tanking. However, playing your younger players to build for the future is healthy. And as they gel during the season and they get some W’s that’s a welcome outcome. I don’t see that as tanking. Given that I would keep the draft but totally flatten the odds. Something like non playoff teams having a 5% chance at the top pick and playoff teams at 2%. These numbers just for illustration.
I really like the thought of distributing money based on how the teams perform (W/L record). Rewarding winning is paramount. But isn’t this in place today simply by making the playoffs?
I believe that because the playoffs are part of the larger national television deal that teams don’t get additional money for playing in those games. Players and staff do get playoff bonuses, but I don’t think the organizations net anything extra
Game gates don't generate nearly as much money as you would think, and that is particularly true for smaller market teams. Last season, the NBA generated $12.25 billion in revenue, with $3.43 billion coming from seating/suites. Regular season plus playoffs, 1,314 games were played. That means, on average, a single game generated $2.6 million in revenue. However, it's expensive to put on a game, and the difference in revenue that the Warriors generated, $833 million, compared to the Grizzlies, $301 million, shows how little profit a few extra playoff games can generate.
Love this take. Tanking is a necessity. It is the only way small market teams can acquire elite talent. We will never see players like Giannis, Bron, etc want to go play in Utah or Charlotte. Big markets have the free agency and trade advantage. Small markets in less desirable locations need the draft. I think it’s no coincidence that the true bottom teams the last few years all just so happened to drop in the lottery as far as possible. And now look at them. They are still bad. Not saying the lottery is rigged but it’s definitely a coincidence that the tanking teams never land the top picks.
https://abovethebreak.substack.com/p/ranting-and-raving-about-tanking?r=5vfjo
Losing on purpose as a strategy will destroy the sport. That is how I view tanking. However, playing your younger players to build for the future is healthy. And as they gel during the season and they get some W’s that’s a welcome outcome. I don’t see that as tanking. Given that I would keep the draft but totally flatten the odds. Something like non playoff teams having a 5% chance at the top pick and playoff teams at 2%. These numbers just for illustration.
I really like the thought of distributing money based on how the teams perform (W/L record). Rewarding winning is paramount. But isn’t this in place today simply by making the playoffs?
I believe that because the playoffs are part of the larger national television deal that teams don’t get additional money for playing in those games. Players and staff do get playoff bonuses, but I don’t think the organizations net anything extra
Game gates don't generate nearly as much money as you would think, and that is particularly true for smaller market teams. Last season, the NBA generated $12.25 billion in revenue, with $3.43 billion coming from seating/suites. Regular season plus playoffs, 1,314 games were played. That means, on average, a single game generated $2.6 million in revenue. However, it's expensive to put on a game, and the difference in revenue that the Warriors generated, $833 million, compared to the Grizzlies, $301 million, shows how little profit a few extra playoff games can generate.
Good insight. But more than just game gates don’t they get tv money/league money just for playing and advancing in the playoffs?