Tanking for a lottery pick can be a smart move for any team that isn’t a serious playoffs contender. However, here is why it is not a good idea for the LA Clippers.
Not too long ago the LA Clippers were rocking a nine-game losing streak, mourning a new Blake Griffin injury, learning about Patrick Beverley’s season-ending injury, and counting down the days until Milos Teodosic’s return. A while after that and more recently, the team is starting two players from the G-league in an attempt to mask Gallinari and Griffin’s absences. In this time, Austin Rivers and Milos Teodosic were both missing games as well. All of these negative components combined brought one thought into fan’s heads, “let’s tank.”
Why? Well, the logic was there. The team’s lineup that was once playoffs-worthy was banged and bruised, missing more games than they were playing. The NBA schedule was not going to slow down to accommodate the struggling Clippers, so perhaps it was time to start giving little effort to earn a spot in the lottery draft. Fast forward to today though, and there are several positive things happening for the Clippers that should push “tanking” thoughts out of fans’ heads.