Whether you call it rebuilding, retooling, or make up phrases such as “Lose for Hughes” or “Trust the Process”, everyone knows what tanking is. First made popular and famous by the infamous or ingenious Sam Hinkie, tanking now is popular in the NHL, NFL, but most commonly in the NBA. The Detroit Pistons have yet to embrace this tactic.
The accepted definition of tanking is doing everything in a team’s power to better their draft position or lottery odds in order to better their roster through the draft. This has resulted in, most recently, in the New York Knicks having a watch party for the NBA Draft Lottery which featured Knicks fans melting down after sliding to the second pick and missing out on the unanimous first pick, Zion Williamson.