Alright, I've had this post and I guess this is just the best place to put it. It gets really touchy when we start talking about things that approximate conspiracy. It's understandable. My working theory (broader than basketball) is that there are these developmental stages we pass through and we view maturity as reaching a stage of hyper-rationality. One example being a child who is afraid of ghosts or monsters in the house, hears rustling at night, thinks they hear whispers, etc., and has to be reassured by parents that there's no ghost, no monster, no whatever. Part of a maturation stage of growing up is identifying with the stability of those more mature than us, forsaking our childish impulses and fantastical beliefs and fears, and embracing a form of rationality that emerges almost as a compensation. Now
everything has a reasonable, rational explanation. While we achieve this significant shift in world view, we view it as development when it's partially that but largely just pendulum swinging. Rightfully so, we look at those less sophisticated and see stupid arguments and feel almost compelled to put some distance between us and them. After all, there is no shortage of ridiculously stupid things you'll read, especially on comments of articles where the commenters clearly have no basis in any fact or reality. Naturally, we don't want lumped in with that, and here we are (this isn't directed at you, it's a cultural thing):
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A friend tells us about some unexplained phenomenon that happened at their house at night, attributing it to some kind of paranormal issue. Not to be sucked into pointless drivel, our appetite is whet for rational explanation. It's not sufficient to say, "Gee, that's interesting. I don't have an explanation for that. I'm not inclined to believe it was what you're saying but I don't have an answer." Instead, we insist on having an explanation -- "It was the heater kicking on!!", "It was your neighbor taking out the trash!!", etc., etc. Agnosticism, from this view, is tantamount to belief. It is not enough to simply be a non-believer. One must be actively anti-belief. Or so we feel, lest we find ourselves in the condition of what we view the Neanderthal on the left of the meme. But, alas, here we really are:
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My point is to say this: the league is currently struggling with a product quality problem, specifically in relation to tanking. This isn't just a fringe discussion that doesn't really affect the product or its consumption, appearing only in hyper-focused internet discussion forums, but instead very commonly referenced, seen, and understood even from very public and mainstream sports sources. Viewership has not rebounded post-COVID. Despite that, the league continues to, presumably, make more money each year, due to a myriad of issues. But the tanking issue is a legitimate, tangible threat to the product as the culture surrounding this has changed so drastically over the past 20 years. The league has enough self-interest and self-awareness to foresee consequences to certain actions they take 4, 5, or 6 steps father down the road. If the league issues a fine to a team regarding tanking, they do so knowing that said team could indeed end up winning the lottery. That's a disaster, especially given how prominently discussion surrounding tanking compromising the product is, and how much the focus on the league shifts to all of these teams engaging in certain acts to land a top pick (but not just referencing those acts, referencing specifically where the league has formally acknowledged such issues via fine) and how this whole anti-competitive process is a significant stain on the league. If the league finds themselves in a situation where they issued a fine to a team regarding tanking, and that team lands the #1 pick, the fallout from that would be such that it would have been better to not fine said team to begin with. That's not something the league isn't aware of. Do I believe that the league has a meeting before each season detailing story lines like professional wrestling, or that Adam Silver lays in bed at night on his phone coming up with the draft order? No. But can there sometimes be safeguards, much like bowling bumper lanes, that can exist to prevent certain events that can be problematic to the success and vitality of the league?
A better way to put this: our chances of landing 5th or lower are more than three times higher than our chance of landing #1. There is nothing nefarious about that and it's nearly impossible to make an argument otherwise. Same with anyone else. I haven't kept up with any of the other investigations and if any other teams ended up receiving formal penalties. But, if there are, I'd watch what happens with any of those teams. If all teams issued formal penalties find themselves outside the top 4, this is still a very likely outcome, so likely that anyone would point to the Neanderthal any time that argument is raised. But, should that be the case, the message will be clear and congratulations, the league has just definitely solved the tanking issue. At least at the top half of the draft. It may encourage it from the back half, but perhaps the play-in safeguards against that.
