There has been a lot of anti-tanking talk this year, particularly from the office of NBA commissioner Adam Silver. At the same time, it's a method for basement teams like the Sacramento Kings to get good draft picks. And it's possible that the Kings have been tanking since day one of the season.
Basically no one thought the 2025-2026 season was going to be good for the Kings. They had recently fired their award-winning head coach and traded the face of the franchise away. All they had left was a rookie head coach, a new front office, and a severely imbalanced roster.
A winning season for Sacramento wasn't on anyone's bingo card for good reason. With a record of 14 wins and 48 losses, they remain the worst team in the league and are all but mathematically eliminated from the Playoffs. As such, the Kings are in line for a great draft pick.
Your guide to tanking in the NBA
The way the NBA Draft works, the top picks are awarded through a lottery. Teams with terrible records have a statistically better chance of getting a high draft pick. That's where tanking comes in, also known as intentionally losing to get the highest spot possible in the draft, if not number one.
Adam Silver has already penalized teams accused of tanking for intentionally sitting top stars. Tanking is something the league takes a dim view of, particularly the current commissioner. Every team not giving every game their best effort isn't exactly good for business.
While Silver is looking for ways to curtail the practice, it's important to note that top draft picks are often the only way for small-market teams with losing records to rebuild. The current draft system is set up in a fashion that tanking is the only way for said teams to get star-level talent.
Tanks for the memories, Sacramento
At this point, no one is accusing the Kings of tanking. Frankly, they could easily be losing without trying to. Yet, their need to get a top-five draft pick in 2026 has been there since before the 2025-2026 Season even started. This could easily be a bigger strategy on the part of Sacramento.
For most of the season, the Kings have made absolutely insane decisions that no one understands. Many of the lines Doug Christie puts together have been ludicrous. They stuck with Dennis Schroder as a starting point guard way too long. The coaching staff basically refused to play Keon Ellis.
On top of that, Sacramento has been unable to make any major trades for big players like Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis. Even worse, there has been a seemingly endless string of injuries that have kept a large portion of the roster on the bench at different times.
The Kings may be working a long con
All of the bad decisions, inability to make trades, and insane number of injuries are not impossible. It's just highly improbable that all of this bad luck would fall on the same team at once, taking what should have been a bad season and making it truly horrifying.
Much like their fans, critics, and pundits, the Kings' front office might have realized this season was a wash before it even started and leaned into it from day one. Hey, it's really hard to accuse a team of tanking at the end of the season when the whole season has been abysmal.
It's important to keep in mind that there is no evidence to support this theory whatsoever. The Kings could just genuinely be this bad with shockingly nasty luck. Regardless of whether some of this is planned or not, the Kings should end up with a good draft pick this offseason.