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The NBA prepares to tank one final time in 2014-15

Kelly Dwyer
Dwyane Wade probably didn't even want to play, anyway. (Getty Images)

There we were, thinking that we were done with talking about tanking for a while. Ready for the playoffs. Ready for spring. Ready for the NBA’s draft lottery to remind us that there are no guarantees after losing games on purpose.

Then Joseph Goodman had to go and remind us of this on Tuesday night:

Thanks a lot, pal.

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In 2010, Heat president Pat Riley happily sent a future first-round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers for in the sign-and-trade deal for LeBron James. Riley didn’t have to, but the move made it easier for James to make a specific amount of money and for Cleveland to earn a trade exemption. LeBron helped gift Miami with four straight Finals trips, four seasons of MVP-level play, and two NBA titles before leaving the adoring thousands that bothered to show up for the first quarter high and dry in his return to Cleveland.

The Heat, besotted by injury and illness, are now out of the playoff picture in the team’s first post-LeBron season. On Wednesday night, they’ll take on the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers picked up the rights to Miami’s future first-rounder last August because the Minnesota Timberwolves, for some reason, wanted Thaddeus Young as part of the return for Kevin Love – whom the Cavaliers badly wanted to acquire. Cleveland sent the future pick to the Sixers in the three-way deal.

Philadelphia wants to lose on Wednesday in order to bump up its own lottery odds. If they fall to Miami and New York wins, the Sixers will have tied the Knicks for the second-worst record in the NBA. Wednesday really is no different from any other game the Sixers have played since October, 2013.

Miami? They went into this season with legitimate playoff aspirations. They’ll now be forced into chucking a game so as to finish with the 11th-worst record in the NBA, as the pick they owe Philadelphia is protected through the top ten picks. If the Heat win and the Brooklyn Nets lose (don’t put anything past that embarrassing franchise) to Orlando, there will be a coin flip to determine who will receive the “10th” designation when it comes to lottery odds.

If the Heat lose that 50/50 coin flip, they will fall to 11th. If lottery odds hold up, the Heat’s pick will then go to the 76ers, a 37-win season gone to waste. And if the Lakers’ lottery luck doesn’t go their way, the Sixers will also pick up Los Angeles’ pick if it falls out of the top five. The Lakers are currently working with the fourth-worst record in the NBA, four games “up” on fifth placed Orlando. The Lakers could actually try to win on Wednesday!

Of course, because these are the Philadelphia 76ers, there is even more incentive to want to lose to Miami on Wednesday.

Again, there are no guarantees with the lottery – Miami could end up with the top pick in this year’s draft or drop down to 14th (sending the pick to Philly along the way) regardless of what happens on Wednesday night – but the 76ers might prefer Miami keeps the selection this season. The pick is protected through the top ten picks again in 2016, but unprotected in 2017. Miami’s potential 2015-16 starting lineup looks rather fearsome right now, but Dwyane Wade will turn 35 midway through 2016-17; with Goran Dragic and Chris Bosh all in their early-to-mid-30s that season. If Luol Deng stays a Heat, he will be the oldest 32-year old in NBA history in 2017.

A bounce-back year for Wade this season, typically-sound work from Deng, a third of the year with Dragic and a mostly-healthy first half of the season from Chris Bosh wasn’t enough to put the Heat in the playoffs in 2015, and the East can’t help but improve between now and 2017. The Sixers might prefer to take a chance on the Heat being even worse than 11th in 2017.

Or, the Sixers could glom onto it now, take in the Lakers’ pick, and enter 2016-17 (because they’re most assuredly missing the postseason next year) with seven stout lottery picks (Nerlens Noel, Joel Embiid, Dario Saric, their own next two lottery picks, plus Miami and Los Angeles’ selections) dotting the roster. A tank in full.

Meanwhile, New York is hoping to lose on Wednesday to Detroit, as rumors about Greg Monroe’s seemingly inevitable Knick future swirl. From Marc Berman of the New York Post:

“We are well aware the Knicks have cap space and we will sit down with them at the appropriate time,’’ [Monroe’s agent David] Falk told The Post in a 25-minute phone interview from his Washington office. “Now is not the appropriate time.’’

Falk’s sentiment suggested the Knicks have a legitimate shot.

League executives told The Post in February that of all the free agents on the Knicks’ radar, Monroe has the best chance of coming to New York. Subsequently, an unnamed NBA executive was quoted in a recent published report saying it’s “about as close to a done deal as you can get.”

The Knicks are hoping Minnesota loses to the desperate Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday so it can tie the Wolves for the worst record in the NBA. The Pistons are also hoping to lose to New York while pining for a Denver win over what could be a resting Golden State team in order to tie for the seventh-worst record in the league this season.

Charlotte? They can win without hurting lottery odds, so heads-up on the spoiler alert as they take on the Toronto Raptors (who are hoping for the East’s third seed), even though significant members of the Hornets’ rotation will sit due to legitimate injury. Sacramento and Los Angeles, secure in their suckiness and in no danger of hurting lottery odds, will actually attempt to play competitive basketball against each other on Wednesday, though nobody wants to see that.

No, we’d rather watch the 76ers and Heat try to figure things out new and creative ways of screwing things up in the final game of their season. Pat Riley’s probably going to make his guys wear jai alai scoops.

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Kelly Dwyer

is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!