Tanking or not tanking? Observers have their own idea, and apparently the NBA too. The American Basketball League has decided to open an investigation into the Dallas Mavericks’ decision to drop several key players in the 115-112 loss to the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, when they still had a chance to access the Western conference play-offs.
“The NBA today initiated an investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the rostering and conduct of play decisions made by the Dallas Mavericks during the Chicago Bulls-Mavericks game (…), including the motivations behind these actions,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement on Saturday.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd said resting the majority of the regular rotation was an “organizational decision,” attributing the choice to owner Mark Cuban and general manager Nico Harrison. The Mavs largely rotated on Saturday, resting Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr, Josh Green, Maxi Kleber and Christian Wood. All-Star point guard Luka Doncic only played the first 12 minutes before remaining on the bench until the end of the match.
A first round of draft in play
League rules, however, include measures against “tanking” which state that an owner cannot “attempt to lose or control the score of a match”. The Mavs are (more than) suspected of having wanted to protect their first-round pick of the next NBA draft.
Indeed, Dallas owes the New York Knicks a first-round pick, as final payment for the 2019 Kristaps Porzingis trade. But if the draft lottery determines they will have a top-10 pick, they don’t have to. not give it up to the Knicks.
So yesterday’s loss, which hurts the Mavs’ overall record, gives them a better chance of getting a top-10 lottery pick. Franchise owner Mark Cuban, who was fined $600,000 in 2018 for admitting the Mavericks were tanking, said Wednesday his players would not support the strategy.
“The players don’t want to do that,” he said on Wednesday. “The players are not going to do that. Players don’t do that. Cuban did not comment on Friday’s game.