NBA Tank Rankings: Knicks hold draft lottery torch
By Brad Rowland
Which 2014-2015 NBA teams were the best at being the worst?
We have, mercifully, reached the end of the 2014-2015 NBA season.
Yes, there are still a handful of games remaining, but for the most part, the bottom of the league is simply coasting to the finish line, and in this space, that is all we care about. While the great majority of NBA fans are focused on playoff races and seeding concerns, fans of lottery-bound squads just want ping-pong balls, and we sympathize.
Throughout the season, we have taken a weekly look at the tanking race (last week’s penultimate edition can be seen here) and with the season on its last legs, we must wrap things up in a tidy bow.
It should be noted that not every team included on this list entered the season trying to lose games, but as the season goes along, plans can change, and there are undoubtedly organizations who explicitly executed plans to pile up losses. That mindset is increasingly prevalent in today’s NBA, and frankly, it is why we do what we do.
This season’s class of big-time assets is led by two big men in Duke’s Jahlil Okafor and Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns, but there are multiple prizes (including Ohio State guard D’Angelo Russell and Duke wing Justise Winslow) available for teams who land toward outside of the top two picks.
The draft lottery is nearly here, the ping-pong probabilities are almost set, and we leave you with this final look at the league’s worst teams. It’s been a pleasure.
Or something like that.
Next: Orlando