Trail Blazer Dilemma: To Tank or Not to Tank?

During the 2005-2006 Trail Blazer season, the team lost, and lost a lot. It came to a point where the team was putting people on the court that had no business being on an NBA court, except to maybe pick up the trash after the game.

The team lost more and more to enhance their position in the NBA Draft Lottery; a subtly blatant tank job that propelled them to a 21-61 record. They had the best chance at landing the top pick.

And how was all of their hard work rewarded? With the fourth pick overall. A karmatic slap in the face of a team that tanked. 

Last year at this time, Portland Trail Blazer fans were suffering through another losing season.

LaMarcus Aldridge and Brandon Roy provided hope and turned out to be better than advertised, and the team began to look towards this season a couple weeks after the All-Star Game. And as soon as the attention went to the future, the pressure to do something now mounted.

What could be done? The trade deadline had passed. The team was still handcuffed by the horrible contracts of Darius Miles and Zach Randolph.

So what else was there to do, the same thing that the team had been doing all season long: keep losing to help their chances in the NBA Draft Lottery. And what did the Blazers do this go 'round?

They finished the job the right way.

The Blazers played hard and won a few here and there. A true fan would be happy that a little ray of sunshine shone through the gloom of another losing campaign. These wins pushed the team to a 32-50 record. That is plus 11 in the win column, but people were extremely worried that they would jeopardize their lottery position.

And how was the late season hard work rewarded this time? With a 6.3 percent chance of winning it, compared to the 25 percent chance the year previous, the Blazers lucked out and won the first pick of the draft.

That late-season winning that people complained so vehemently about just received another karmatic slap, but this time on the back for not giving up and for not giving in. 

This is meant to serve as a reminder to those in NBA cities who want their teams to give up in order to enhance their draft position.

Be careful what you wish for. If you do not believe me, just ask the Blazers of two years ago or the Grizzlies and Celtics of last year.