In late December, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the NBA had "begun to gather input from its owners and general managers on new ways to combat tanking in the aftermath of the gambling scandal that rocked the league at the start of the season." Charania specifically mentioned concerns about teams tanking to ensure that protected first-round draft picks did not convey.
This year's Washington Wizards may provide the NBA with a chance to prove how serious it is about preventing tanking.
After getting off to a dismal 3-20 start this season, the Wizards are now 7-6 over their last 13 games. They also just acquired four-time All-Star point guard Trae Young from the Atlanta Hawks on Friday for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. In theory, things are looking up in the nation's capital. (On the basketball court, at least.)
However, it's unclear when Wizards fans will see their new star point guard in action. Young missed the Hawks' past six games with a right quad contusion that he suffered in late December. Charania reported Wednesday that "both sides will evaluate his health once he arrives in Washington."
The Wizards owe their 2026 first-round pick to the New York Knicks if it lands outside of the top eight in the lottery. They currently have the league's fourth-worst record, which means they'd be at no risk of conveying that pick if the season ended today. However, if they finish with the eighth-worst record, they'd have a nearly 40 percent chance of it conveying to New York. If they're ninth or better, they'd have less than a 20 percent chance of keeping the pick.
For that reason, Josh Robbins of The Athletic does not expect to see much of Young in Washington this year.
"I think the knee sprain that Young suffered earlier this season will provide the rationale for sitting him early in his Washington tenure," Robbins wrote in a mailbag Friday. "I also think that the way the Wizards sat most of their top veteran players over the final eight to 10 or so games of each of the last two seasons provides a roadmap that the team will follow again this season."
If Young has a genuine injury that prevents him from suiting up, there's nothing the NBA can do about that. But the league's player participation policy exists for this exact reason.
The NBA could investigate a long-term Trae shutdown
Because Young received an All-Star nod last year, he is subject to the league's participation policy. Said policy prohibits teams from "any long-term shutdown (or near shutdown) whereby a star player ceases participating in games or begins to play a materially reduced role in circumstances affecting the integrity of the game."
The policy allows the league office to "investigate and/or impose discipline" if it suspects the Wizards are holding Young out without a legitimate injury. In consultation with a former team physician, the league is allowed to review "medical information (including any contemporaneous team physician or training notes, imaging and related reports, and second opinion records) the player has an injury, illness, or other medical condition that could materially affect his ability to participate in a game." The league office and independent physician are also allowed to interview "key team personnel" and the player.
If the NBA determines that the Wizards are violating the policy, the first offense will cost them $100,000, the second offense would cost $250,000, and any additional violation would cost "$1 million more than its previous penalty." In other words, a long-term shutdown of Young would quickly become costly if the NBA determines that it isn't medically necessary.
Young missed a month-and-a-half earlier this season with an MCL sprain, but he was able to return in mid-December and played in five games before suffering the quad contusion that has sidelined him ever since. The Wizards already ruled him out for Friday's game against the New Orleans Pelicans—conveniently, another team with one of the worst records in the league—for the same reason.
If this quad contusion continues to sideline Young for the next few weeks, it might trigger an automatic league investigation. According to the player participation policy, the league is supposed to investigate any time that a star misses a nationally televised game, and the Wizards' game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 29 is airing on Prime Video.
Either way, the protection on the Wizards' first-round pick this year should have the NBA's full attention if they try to shut Young down for any extended period. If the league is serious about combating tanking, Washington could give it a clear opportunity to enforce its already-in-place rules.