We have never seen tanking happen to the extent that is occurring this season. A full ten teams are incentivized to lose, and several of them are going to such lengths that they are destroying the integrity of the league as a whole. Commissioner Adam Silver has finally started to put his foot down, issuing a massive $500,000 fine to the Jazz and $100,000 to the Pacers on Thursday night for sitting healthy players.
"Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games," Silver said in a statement after announcing the league's fines.
Teams have gone to such extremes this season because the prize at the end of the season is going to be worth it. The top five of the 2026 draft is one of the best ever. Getting one of Cameron Boozer, Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Kingston Flemings, or Caleb Wilson could completely change the course of a franchise.
MORE: Why this freshman class could be greatest in college basketball history
Just because it's understandable doesn't mean that it's forgivable. Fanbases of these teams probably want their teams to lose. The rest of us want to watch real basketball.
The bottom 10 haven't all tanked equally hard. There are levels to this, and some of these franchises truly deserve to be shamed. Silver's fines were a good first step, but there also needs to be more attention given to how egregious some of these maneuvers have been.
With that in mind, here are the first inaugural shame rankings. Here's what each team is doing to manipulate the odds in their favor, and who are the worst offenders.
Shame tanking rankings
10. Pelicans
Current wins: 15 (3rd in the tank race)
The Pelicans aren't tanking, they're just bad. They didn't trade away their veterans aside from Jose Alvarado at the deadline, they're playing their starters, and Zion Williamson has even stunningly played in every game since Dec. 14.
The Pelicans are taking winning to extreme levels, even DNP-ing their tank commander Jordan Poole, who is having a miserable year. They have no incentive to lose given that they will likely swap picks with the Hawks at the end of the year. They are the most ethical team on this list.
9. Bucks
Current wins: 22 (9th in the tank race)
The Bucks shouldn't be ashamed that they are tanking. They should be ashamed that they are so bad while trying to win games. They're the only team on this list with an MVP candidate on their roster.
Milwaukee is bad mostly because they have assembled a lackluster crew of talent around Giannis Antetokounmpo. He has criticized his teammates this season for being selfish. Now Cam Thomas is supposed to help fix that problem. Thomas did lead them to win No. 22 on Wednesday against the Magic, but he's not the answer long-term.
Milwaukee's tank is a complete accident, but a fortunate one that should help them this summer.
MORE: 2026 NBA trade deadline winners and losers
8. Bulls
Current wins: 24 (10th in the tank race)
The Bulls started their tank too late to substantially affect their odds. They did fall out of the Play-In race after trading away veterans including Nikola Vucevic, Coby White, and Ayo Dosunmu. They strangely replaced those guys with other older win-now guys who have little future on the team such as Collin Sexton, Anfernee Simons, Guerschon Yabusele, and Nick Richards.
Much to the chagrin of their fans, they are playing those vets over some of their younger players. And the young prospects that they are playing definitely look like they have been plopped onto a brand new team.
Jaden Ivey looks odd bringing the ball up the court, end up with a horrific pass (with a replay)
Even the Bulls announcers were laughing
Also on Youtube:https://t.co/ops4QZ2MjG pic.twitter.com/shZn42fRo2
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) February 8, 2026
Chicago is losing games, but they're tanking in the most illogical way possible. Billy Donovan is still not letting their most promising player Matas Buzelis play through all of his mistakes, although Buzelis has gotten more usage and minutes since the deadline. Theirs is a half-hearted tank at best.
7. Mavericks
Current wins: 19 (7th in tank race)
The Mavs traded away a bunch of their veterans during the deadline, including most obviously Anthony Davis. They're not doing anything egregious to lose games though -- yet.
Dallas did pull off an epic tank a few years ago, landing Derek Lively II in the 2023 draft by punting their chances of getting into the Play-In Tournament. That cost them a hefty $750,000 fine. So far, it doesn't look like they're at risk of drawing the ire of the league again.
6. Nets
Current wins: 15 (5th in tank race)
If the Nets were really committed to tanking, they would have traded Michael Porter Jr.. He's still on the team, but he is sitting for some key tank matchups (Bulls, Pacers) while playing in others (Wizards). The same goes for their other vets. They might be making some strategic sit outs here and there, but not nearly to the extent of some of these other teams.
Brooklyn did waive Cam Thomas, which might actually help them lose more games. He scored a ton of points, but they were getting outscored in his minutes consistently. The Nets have a ton of young players, so the losing is going to come naturally for this group.
5. Kings
Current wins: 12 (1st in tank race)
For a while, the joke was that the Kings were the only team with an ethical tank. They weren't trying to lose games, their players were just that bad. They haven't won a game since Jan. 16, and that was against another bottom-feeder in the Wizards.
The Kings don't need to tank in order to get crushed. Their roster makes no sense, and neither do their moves. They added a win-now veteran wing in De'Andre Hunter at the trade deadline despite being the worst team in the league. They traded all of their young, promising point guards, thought Dennis Schroder was the answer, and now have a 37-year-old Russell Westbrook starting games.
The Kings have started to use some maneuvers against the very worst of the worst, sitting all of their best players for a game against the Jazz on Feb. 11. For the most part, they haven't needed to resort to anything crazy. They're going to lose no matter who's out there.
MORE:Why Cavs, Wolves rose in NBA power rankings after trade deadline
4. Pacers
Current wins: 15 (4th in tank race)
The Pacers aren't that bad of a team. Injuries completely derailed their season, and they've started to win more here and there since getting healthy. They went for it against the Knicks to secure their 14th win, beating them in overtime and playing Pascal Siakam 37 minutes. Of course, they also sat all of their top guys the next night against the Nets and three starters against the Jazz as well on Feb. 3, which led to the $100,000 fine.
It's impressive that they are still going for it given that they have the most at stake of anyone to lose games. They will send their pick to the Clippers if it lands at 5 through 9, giving them about a coin flip of keeping it if they stay in the bottom four.
They are also being suspiciously cautious with new trade addition Ivica Zubac, keeping him out with an ankle injury that was good enough to play on during the week of the deadline.
3. Grizzlies
Current wins: 20 (8th in tank race)
The Grizzlies signaled a pivot away from winning after trading away Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. They're not rushing Ja Morant back from an elbow injury, and they're playing their young prospects big minutes.
The Grizzlies took tanking to the extreme against the Warriors on Monday. They benched all of their good players and scored five points in the last eight minutes, losing on an extremely chaotic last possession after coach Tuomas Iisalo didn't call a timeout to organize his team.
2. Wizards
Current wins: 14 (2nd in tank race)
The Wizards have to give their pick to the Knicks if it falls outside of the top eight. They're doing everything in their power to make sure that doesn't happen.
Washington acquired Trae Young and Anthony Davis via trade but haven't played either star yet. Both players do have legitimate injuries, but the timeline for their returns are raising some eyebrows. Young in particular seems to be taking his time with his recovery. Both players might play at some point in the second half of the year, according to Marc Stein.
The Wizards are also starting to mess with their lineups to ensure losses. They closed a game against the Kings in February with a lineup of Sharife Cooper, AJ Johnson, Will Riley, Anthony Gil, and Scal Labissiere while the Kings had their normal group on the floor. It didn't work. The Wizards won that game.
During another matchup against the Nets, they sat all of their good players and fielded the minimum number of active players required to not forfeit the game. That strategy did pay off. They were down by as much as 34 and blown out in the loss.
Most recently, they played a game where 6-foot-6 wing Jamir Watkins was the nominal center. The Cavs beat them by 25 points, and center Jarrett Allen went a perfect 8-for-8 in just 27 minutes.
MORE: Why the NBA fined Jazz, Pacers for roster management decisions
1. Jazz
Current wins: 17 (6th place in tank race)
Where do we even start with this team? They are the DaVinci of tanking. The Jazz have pulled out all the stops for several years now, and the lottery gods have punished them by never giving them a pick better than No. 5.
This year, they're taking things to extremes. They haven't been playing Lauri Markkanen or Jaren Jackson Jr. (who is now out for the season after knee surgery) during fourth quarters. They've added some other starters like Jusuf Nurkic to that fourth quarter DNP list. Those substitutions are having a major effect on the outcome of games and earned them that $500,000 fine from Silver.
Add this to the tanking files. The Jazz led the Magic 94-87 going into the fourth quarter tonight. Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. had already combined for 49 points, but they were held out for the entire fourth. Utah lost the game 120-117.
— Josh Robbins (@JoshuaBRobbins) February 8, 2026
Will Hardy doesn't call timeouts to stop runs any more either. He is unapologetic about his strategy.
Will Hardy on how close he was to putting Jaren Jackson Jr. or Lauri Markkanen back in the game in the fourth quarter:
“I wasn’t.”pic.twitter.com/Va0RIu76QC
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) February 10, 2026
The Jazz hilariously earned their 17th win of the year on Monday in spite of using their full tanking playbook. Bam Adebayo openly acknowledged what the Heat's opponents were doing, telling reporters postgame that "we got to find a way to win even against teams that are, I guess you could say, trying to lose."
Utah loses its pick this summer if it falls outside the top eight. That only has about a four percent chance of happening if they remain as the sixth-worst team. The ghost of David Stern might make sure that happens.