Unless it’s the NFL where the worst record guarantees the number 1 pick. The whole tanking stuff has always seemed weird to me.
Like there’s no incentive for players to tank. They’re playing for contracts, be it with that team or somewhere else. No reason for them to willingly partake in helping a team have higher odds at getting the number 1 pick when they likely won’t even be around with the team the next season. You can intentionally put the worst players out there, they’re going to try their best and compete.
Unless the coach is absolutely guaranteed job security and is assured his job is safe no matter how bad the teams record is, no incentive for them to get on board with benching or shutting their best players down for the season and playing a bunch of inexperienced guys.
I get hitting the reset button and rebuilding as an organization if you’re stuck in that middle of the pack no man’s land and trading your best players to acquire picks and cap flexibility. And if you happen to be real bad and get the number 1 pick as a result, then so be it. But to just blatantly tank and expect everyone to be on board with it. Just seems wild to me.