NBA commissioner Adam Silver insists teams will be ‘on notice’ for tanking for Victor Wembanyama

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has revealed NBA teams will be put ‘on notice’ ahead of a potential race to the bottom of the league in the hopes of securing French phenom Victor Wembanyama. 

Organizations without a legitimate shot of making the playoffs are expected to put themselves deep in the draft lottery for a chance at the likely 2023 No. 1 overall pick. 

Silver and the league are aware of this reality and told Phoenix Suns employees, via ESPN, ‘we’re going to be paying particular attention to the issue this year.’ 

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has said the league will be monitoring the tanking situation

‘We put teams on notice,’ Silver told employees. ‘We’re going to be paying particular attention to the issue this year.’ 

‘None of us can remember going into a season where there was a perception of so much competition, but, still, the goal is to have 30 competitive teams,’ Silver said. 

‘Not 20, or whatever it is, so think we do pay attention to the dilution factor,’ 

Noticing tanking was an issue plaguing the league, the NBA altered the draft lottery in 2019. 

Prior to the move, teams who finished last, second-last and third-from-bottom had a 25 percent, 19.9 percent and 15.6 percent chance of the first pick respectively.

Victor Wembanyama is most of the hyped prospects since LeBron James and Zion Williamson

Now, those teams each have a 14 percent likelihood of receiving the potentially franchise-altering pick. 

‘It’s something we have to watch for,’ Silver said of the tanking possibility in 2022-23.

‘A draft is, in principle, a good system. But I get it, especially when there is a sense that a once-in-a-generation player is coming along, like we have this year.

‘Teams are smarter, they are creative, and they respond — we move, they move — so we’re always looking to see whether there’s yet a better system.’ 

Wembanyama is widely considered to be one of the best draft prospects in living memory, with some going as far as to suggest he is better than LeBron James coming out of St. Vincent-St Mary’s. 

The seven-foot-four Frenchman starred during two exhibition games vs. G League Ignite

Wembanyama, who is just 18-years-old, will be eligible for the 2023 NBA Draft — precisely two decades on from James’s selection at No. 1 by the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

‘If LeBron James at that exact moment showed up, Victor would go higher than him,’ Richard Jefferson, a former teammate of James, said earlier this month on NBA Today.

The Frenchman shocked the NBA world during two exhibition games in early October vs. G League Ignite, his first appearances on American soil. 

Through two games, Wembanyama scored 73 points on 22-of-44, 15 rebounds, nine blocks and nine threes. 

‘LeBron James, and all the things that we saw — and I’m not saying he’s going to be better than LeBron James — what I’m saying is right now, I remember LeBron James 20 years ago,’ Jefferson continued.

‘That player was six-foot-seven, this person is seven-[foot]-four. LeBron James would be number two if he has the exact same age in the exact same draft, LeBron James would be number two. That’s how crazy this kid is as a prospect.’