The Dallas Mavericks were eliminated from playoff contention late last week, after being tied at 38-42 with the Thunder with two games to go.
Here’s the problem, though, with the fact that OKC won two in a row while Dallas lost two in a row to end the year: Kyrie Irving didn’t play either game, Luka Doncic played just 12 minutes in the first and none in the second, and they were clearly throwing out the second (and even third) string squad as they “fought” to stay alive.
Tanking? Sure, you can accuse the Wizards of that, too, although they did have legit injuries, but The Athletic’s legal analyst Daniel Wallach joined Kevin Sheehan Tuesday to explain that Dallas may be in a bit more trouble…because of the Knicks and a now-Wizard?
“The Mavericks had a pretty good chance to make the play-in tournament, and there are so many other examples of other teams going into a soft tank or load management, but there’s never been a precedent like this where a team made the decision to bench everyone, and then pull your best player after one quarter with the design of losing games,” Wallach said. “All the other soft tanks didn’t include teams that had traded for players, and what differentiates the Mavericks is that they did this to not have to pay the New York Knicks a draft choice.”
Dallas was fourth in the Western Conference when they traded for Kyrie Irving and finished 11th, going 7-18 over their final 25 games, but it was those last few that made a difference.
See, the Knicks own the Mavs’ first-round pick this year as one of the final vestiges of the Kristaps Porzingis deal, but that pick is Top-10 protected. Translation: if Dallas made the play-in tournament, the lowest they could’ve drafted was 11th, meaning they would’ve had to have won a Top 3 spot in the draft lottery to not have to give the Knicks the pick.
Now, because the Mavs are in the Top 10 pre-lottery, they have an 80 percent chance of keeping their pick – minus the 20 percent chance one of the four play-in tournament losers hits a jackpot – and that leaves the Knicks, who dealt their own first-rounder to Portland this year, shut out of the Draft entirely.
Related
The NBA is investigating, especially after Jason Kidd told the media prior to Game 81 that Doncic was “going to play the first quarter and then he’s done for the season,” and to Wallach, it’s pretty clear that once Dallas saw they were unlikely to win a title and had a chance to keep their own pick, they decided to just squander the season.
“The Porzingis deal was a very big deal at the time, and the Knicks expected to get two first-round draft picks, so they were willing to put in a trade protection on this year’s pick,” Wallach said. “Dallas tanked the game last Friday to simply avoid having to send the pick to the Knicks – there’s no other reason for them to do it.”
Tanking is vehemently prohibited by NBA rules, although this may be more of a Knicks-Mavericks issue than a league issue?
“The league has always had a rule in its bylaws against tanking, such a serious transgression that an owner can have his ownership interest terminated by vote of a three-quarters vote of the Board of Governors if they do it,” Wallach said, “but it’s never really been an enforceable offense under Adam Silver. This is more of an issue that the Knicks have a grievance than it is the NBA can take the team away from Mark Cuban – and I think the league has enough here to empower Adam Silver, if he wants to do it, to forfeit the loss of draft picks and impose a fine up to $1 million.”
However, as Sheehan noted, this situation is likely to continue happening now that the play-in tournament is a thing, although punishment for the Mavs could set a precedent not do it if a draft pick is involved.
“The problem is Jason Kidd admitted the tank, so the organizational decision admission automatically separates this and puts the league in a position of being embarrassed. If Adam Silver does nothing more than impose a monetary fine or say we’re going to deal with tanking in a different manner going forward, you’re overlooking the crime. It’s open to debate what the punishment should be, and they’re going to have to talk to Jason Kidd and the players.”
The problem with that all, though? Timing.
“This will probably take several months to develop, and it may ultimately be a moot point if the NBA lottery results in the pick going to the Knicks anyway,” Wallach said. “But the team admitted it and Mark Cuban is a two-time felon when it comes to tanking, so I don’t think he gets the benefit of the doubt.”
Follow The Kevin Sheehan Show on Twitter: @kevinsheehandc & @sheehanpodcast
Keep up with 106.7 The Fan via:
Audacy App | Online Stream | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram