On Sunday, the Toronto Raptors held an 86-80 lead over the Portland Trail Blazers when Scottie Barnes headed to the bench with 8:41 left in the fourth quarter. They were up 95-89 when Jakob Poeltl joined Barnes on the bench a few minutes later.
Neither returned to the game, and the Blazers wound up going on a 16-7 run to close out a 105-102 victory over the Raptors.
This wasn't the first time that the Raptors have benched their best players in the fourth quarter of a close game, either. Against the Orlando Magic on March 4, they sent Immanuel Quickley to the bench for the night when they were up 87-78 with 9:43 left in the fourth quarter. They benched Poeltl at the 8:07 mark when they were up 93-83 and replaced Barnes with RJ Barrett shortly thereafter.
After Magic star Paolo Banchero drilled a 3-pointer with 1:37 left to trim Toronto's lead to two points, the Raptors sent Barrett to the bench for two-way player Jared Rhoden. They closed the game with Rhoden, fellow two-way player A.J. Lawson, former two-way player Orlando Robinson, rookie second-round pick Jamal Shead and rookie first-round pick Ja'Kobe Walter. Despite their best efforts, they still wound up winning, 104-102.
The Raptors were even more egregious about it against the Utah Jazz on March 14. With 9:51 minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Raptors leading 99-88, they benched all three of Barnes, Quickley and Barrett for the rest of the game. Unfortunately for the Raptors, they ran into a team that night on the cutting edge of tanking innovation.
Last Wednesday, the NBA fined the Jazz $100,000 for violating its player participation policy by making Lauri Markkanen unavailable for their game against the Washington Wizards on March 5, "as well as other recent games." Markkanen proceeded to play 19 minutes in the first half against the Raptors on Friday, but he sat the entire second half. Third-year Jazz center Walker Kessler, who was in uniform and wasn't on the injury report, didn't play at all.
According to Sarah Todd of the Deseret News, "there will probably be more games like this to come with some DNPs of healthy players and some players who play limited minutes." The Jazz plan to use their remaining games to "primarily play the first- and second-year players heavy minutes and to see if they will fight for their opportunity and if they can show any sort of marked improvement," Todd added.
Kessler and Markkanen each did play 25-plus minutes against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday, but it didn't stop the Jazz from getting pulverized, 128-102. Meanwhile, the Raptors had to resort to far more unethical measures to stave off their seventh win in the past eight games.
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How will the NBA respond to outright tanking from the Raptors and Jazz?
It's fair to wonder if or when NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will intervene with the Raptors. The league's player participation policy says "teams must refrain from any long-term shutdown (or near shutdown) whereby a star player ceases participating in games or being to play a materially reduced role in circumstances affecting the integrity of the game." If repeatedly benching Barnes in the fourth quarter of competitive games doesn't fit that description, what does?
The policy defines a star player as anyone who's made an All-NBA or All-Star team within the past three seasons. Since Barnes was an All-Star in 2023-24, he should be subject to it. Quickley, Barrett and Poeltl don't face the same restrictions, although the policy also allows the league "to investigate and/or impose discipline in other circumstances involving star player (or other player) non-participation."
The Jazz aren't the only team to have caught the league office's eye lately. During an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show on Friday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the NBA has begun an investigation into the recent absences for star point guard Tyrese Maxey and star forward Paul George, although both have been nursing legitimate injuries. Charania added that the NBA is also investigating the Oklahoma City Thunder for benching their entire starting five against the Portland Trail Blazers on March 7.
There's a difference between sitting players entirely and benching healthy players in the fourth quarter of competitive games, though. Perhaps that doesn't technically run afoul of the NBA's rules, but it's making a mockery of the league's late-season product.
It's a far more insidious problem than any concerns about TV ratings and the leaguewide 3-point rate, and it's one without an obvious solution unless the league adds more teeth to its participation policy.