THE RACE FOR LAST

While there are few clear-cut contenders for the NBA title this year, the race for lottery position is more wide open. In the era of “the process” many teams are much more focused on the draft then trying to contend for the rest of the season. While, in most cases, this is the smart move for the teams involved it spells absolute garbage for fans. Teams beg for their fans’ patience as they try to rebuild their rosters. The 76’ers are the template for this strategy. They haven’t truly competed since the days of AI and went through a five year stretch of being laughable. The payoff? A stash of high draft picks that are finally starting to look like they might pay off. The beginning of their success means trouble for the league because now more teams are willing to try this. It’s one thing if one or two teams know they’re destined for last, but we could see 10 teams pack it in for the rest of the 2018 season. Having a third of the league not even trying means nothing but terrible and boring games night in and night out. Commissioner Silver might want to figure something out to make losing seem a little less promising because I know there’s no chance of me tuning into a Knicks and Hawks game this year, and I’m a New Yorker at heart. No one wants to watch teams compete to be bad.