Due to the NBA's unique draft system and lottery rules, many teams choose to play poorly during the season every year and look to the future. So what exactly does it mean to show off? Why do many NBA teams choose to perform badly instead of striving for a better ranking? To put it simply, before the lottery rules were modified in 2017, the NBA team with the worst record each year had a 25% chance of getting the No. 1 pick; conversely, the better the team's record, the lower the chance of getting a high pick. Therefore, In order to compete for extremely talented new stars, many teams choose to deliberately lose more games to obtain better picks. Today, Guo Renjun will lead everyone to review the three craziest mistakes in NBA history, and each time is jaw-dropping.
The Rockets let the 38-year-old veteran play the entire last 10 games and lost 9 games
1984 is undoubtedly the best draft year in NBA history. Jordan, Olajuwon, Stockton, Barkley and other historical figures all came from that draft. Because the 1984 draft was so brilliant, later generations also called the 1984 draft the "Diamond Generation." At that time, many teams that missed the championship began to scramble to obtain high-quality draft picks. Among them, the Rockets were the craziest team among them.
In the 1983-84 season, in order to get Olajuwon, the Rockets lost 20 of the last 27 games, and even lost 9 of the last 10 games. In order to lose, the Rockets even let The 38-year-old veteran Hayes played all 48 minutes (Hayes also announced his retirement a week later). In the end, the Rockets "exploded" at the end of the season, allowing themselves to finish at the bottom of the Western Conference and finally gain something. The No. 1 pick was Olajuwon, who also led them to win two championship trophies in the 1990s.
Duncan made the Spurs Green Army go crazy, and the Green Army's top brass ordered them to lose
Before the 1997 draft, the name Tim Duncan had already been coveted by countless teams. In college, Duncan had already demonstrated NBA-level confrontational ability and excellent skills. However, in order to fulfill his mother's wish, Duncan still completed four years of school before declaring for the NBA draft. As soon as the news of Duncan's candidacy came out, various teams began to make crazy efforts to get Duncan. Among them, there were many traditional strong teams like the Celtics competing for Duncan.
In the 1996-97 season, the Spurs, Greens, and Grizzlies lost a total of 197 games in the regular season in order to get Duncan. The Greens were led by "Cardinal" Auerbach. Next time, they only won 15 games, and the team's top management even encouraged the players to lose. The fans of the Green Army are also well aware of the team's hard work to get Duncan, so many fans cheered for the home team after the Green Army lost. However, luck was ultimately on the side of the Spurs. The Spurs finally won the No. 1 pick and selected Duncan. Needless to say, the story after that was that Duncan brought 5 championship trophies during his 19 years with the Spurs, which made this small town In one fell swoop, the football market has become one of the cities with the deepest heritage.
The Cavaliers traded three core players to obtain James
In 2003, LeBron James, the strongest high school student in the United States, announced his participation in the draft, which stirred up countless teams with one stone. They also began to prepare for this "chosen son" who was slowly growing in talent. Among them, the craziest thing was James' hometown team-the Cleveland Cavaliers.
How crazy are the Cavaliers for James? In the 2002-03 season, the Cavaliers traded away the team's top three scorers - Murray, Miller and Pearson - almost for nothing. At the time, the Cavaliers' move was helpless. Because the Cleveland ball market is too small, many big-name stars are unwilling to come to Kremlin to play. The Cavaliers can only make a desperate move and use the draft to restore the Cavaliers' glory. Finally, hard work paid off. The Cavaliers posted a record of 17 wins and 65 losses in the 2002-03 season, and they got the No. 1 pick and selected James. In 2016, James also led the team to defeat the Warriors, and Cleveland also gained its own team history. ’s first championship trophy.