What if I told you that we were going to celebrate mediocrity? The worst hospitals get the first pick of doctors. The lowest ranked schools choose from the best applicants. In fact, this is the attitude that professional sports encourage.
As mentioned in Sam Gold's column last week, the strategy of several teams this year in the NBA has been not to lose intentionally, but rather to put players on the floor that don't necessarily stack up to the competition.
And yet, this strategy is seen as okay. It's part of what is called a "building strategy"- at least that's what teams say to their season ticket holders and fans to keep the money flowing in without feeling the pressure to win.
In most professional leagues, the team which has the worst record will have the first pick in the following draft. With this pick come the hopes and dreams of a reinvigorated franchise that will rise from the ashes to be a playoff contender again. But does this really happen?
Often, a team who finishes the very worst in the league is more than just one draft pick from the drastic improvements needed to become a viable contender. For example, first overall picks in the last decade in the NFL include JaMarcus Russell, Jake Long, Matthew Stafford and Sam Bradford. The combined records of their teams this past year was 26-37, a far cry from the playoff seasons that fans were promised by management.
The NFL isn't the only league where this discrepancy occurs. A further look into the NBA reveals that first-overall picks include Anthony Bennett, Greg Oden, Andrea Bargnani and Andrew Bogut. The only one of the teams that picked them that is currently experiencing success is Portland, and this is through no help of Oden, who, after multiple injuries, is now settled in Miami.
Once-in-a-generation athletes do transform a franchise, but they are exactly that - they come once a decade in every sport. Recent examples include the likes of LeBron James and Andrew Luck. Holding everything else constant, these players converted their teams in less than a year from the very worst team in the league to playoff teams.
Trying to patch a problem with a draft pick is often the least of a franchise's worries. The issues start at the top and work their way down. Poor owners or general managers are reflected in the play of the teams. This culture will not change by receiving a high pick. A mere look at Cleveland's pre- and post-LeBron years illustrates that - while his once-in-a-lifetime talent covered up many problems, over time a bad front office proved to lead the team right back to where it started: with the first pick after Lebron's departure.
"Tanking," or whatever name you want to give it, is not the way to rebuild a franchise. Player development, stability and a dedication to winning is the proven formula to be successful. Franchises cannot just say they want to win; they have to truly know how to win and put themselves in a position to be successful.
How can an argument be made that bottoming out in the NBA and having just a 25 percent probability of having the first pick is the best course of action? Not only has it been proven that the first pick rarely can be the one missing piece to success, but you could also go the whole season with this strategy, finish with the third worst record, get a pick outside the top five in a weak draft year and see little improvement in your team. It's not a strategy that works, and teams owe it to their fans to employ one that does, so to them - you're sacked!
Jordan Bean is a sophomore majoring in economics. He can be reached at Jordan.Bean@tufts.edu.
