Sports
A Radical NBA Draft Proposal That Could End Tanking for Good
In the wake of Emmanuel Clase having the audacity to go public with his desire to throw 0-2 fastballs in the dirt, the NBA has issues of its own when it comes to teams intentionally veering from the desired target.
Fortunately, I have a solution to the so-called problem.
In fact, I can resolve TWO of the league’s biggest issues at the same time, which makes my idea the best.
Seemingly everyone with a phone or a keyboard has a brilliant scheme on how to keep NBA teams from tanking. Most of them miss the mark for one basic reason:
The goal of the draft MUST continue to be to help bad teams. If your solution doesn’t aid in narrowing the talent gap between the league’s haves and its have-nots, then you need to try again.
Better yet, focus your save-the-world fixes for curling.
One problem up-and-comers have in the NBA is the salary cap. You can’t just go out and snatch up a bunch of big-time players without maxing out your credit card real fast.
Did you know that every team in the NBA except the Nets is over the misnomered cap? As a league, the 30 teams are legally cheating by a total of almost $1.3 billion this season.
Even the Dodgers must be envious.
So what you have are two types of teams trying to get better – the bad ones by coasting into a more desirable draft position, and the rich ones by playing games with the cap.
I’m left wondering: Which is really the top-of-the-list problem?
We can agree to disagree on that, and that’s OK, because my goal is to lessen the popularity of each.
Consider this:
- Only teams under the salary cap on the day of the draft get to use their first-round pick.
- Hand in hand, the draft lottery is restructured to include ALL teams, each with the same odds of earning the top slot.
This would eliminate any incentive to tank. At the same time, it would give teams a reason to start adhering to the spirit of the salary cap.
Here’s how this works:
When the Finals have crowned a champ in mid-June, all franchises are given two weeks to get their finances in order for the following season.
Then, on or around July 1, the draft lottery is held.
After the ping pong balls have landed, any team under the cap gets to keep its pick in the slot determined by the lottery.
But any team over the cap must either trade its slot or forfeit its first-rounder.
Think about it …
No more tanking and a shrinking in the disparity in payrolls.
Both are good things, right? And they could happen at the same time.
I know what some of you are thinking: If only the Nets are under the salary cap, why hold a lottery? Aren’t they assured of making the one and only first-round pick?
No, that’s not the case.
As noted, teams – even those over the cap – would be allowed to trade their lottery-created draft slots. But here’s the catch: Since it has no financial value, the pick could only be dealt for a future pick or picks, or in a package in which matching salaries are included.
In either case, it would almost surely be a team under the cap that acquired the draft slot. Because only they can use the pick that season.
So, again, no tanking, yet the desired result: A bad team gets better.
As for the Nets … as we stand today, the Grizzlies are in line to join them under the cap at the start of the NBA’s next fiscal year in July, while the Hornets and Jazz are close enough that a little roster creativity could get them in.
If this rule had been in place at the recent trade deadline, no doubt others would have maneuvered to get themselves into better financial shape.
By the end of next season, when the Lakers and Bulls already are scheduled to be under the cap, you’d likely have a lot more teams that qualify to make first-round picks. This following a season in which the financial gap has shrunk and bad teams have added the best young talent, creating greater parity to go with the lesser incentive to lose.
Problem(s) solved.
You want to take it another step? Do a lottery for the second round as well. Teams, say, $50 million over the cap (there are nine right now) are excluded, and there would be no incentive to lose games in order to get the best second-round picks.
Sorry, Emmanuel. With my pitch, you get a home run on 0-2.
Sports
CJ Abrams (5 RBIs), Nationals slam Twins
May 6, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams (5) hits an RBI double against the Minnesota Twins during the fourth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images CJ Abrams had three hits including a grand slam, Miles Mikolas pitched into the sixth inning and the host Washington Nationals routed the Minnesota Twins 15-2 on Wednesday night.
Brady House, Drew Millas and Jose Tena each had two hits including a home run for the Nationals, who collected 14 hits. Abrams also had two doubles and five RBIs, and James Wood and Jacob Young each had two hits.
Mikolas (1-3), signed as a free agent in the offseason, began the game with an 8.23 ERA. The right-hander pitched a season-high 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on three hits. Mikolas retired 16 of the 19 batters he faced to earn his first Washington win.
Three Washington pitchers held Minnesota to three hits. Matt Wallner had two hits including a home run for Minnesota, which had won two straight.
Twins starter Bailey Ober (3-2) went five-plus innings, allowing five runs on six hits.
Minnesota took a 1-0 lead in the third when Luke Keaschall doubled and scored on a Wallner single.
Washington did not get a baserunner against Ober until Wood singled leading off the fourth. Wood stole second with one out and Curtis Mead walked. Abrams followed with a double to score Wood.
Wallner homered off Mikolas in the fifth to put Twins up 2-1.
Young singled leading off the bottom half and Millas homered to center to give Washington a 3-2 lead.
In the sixth, back-to-back doubles by Abrams and House ended Ober’s night. Tena greeted reliever Andrew Morris with Washington’s third straight double to make it 5-2. With two outs, Nasim Nunez tripled to right and the lead was 6-2.
Daylen Lile walked leading off the bottom of the seventh and, with two outs, House homered to center to make it 8-2.
Young singled, Millas doubled and Wood singled them both home in the eighth. Washington loaded the bases and Abrams smacked a grand slam to right-center, the second of his career. Tena followed with a homer to make it 15-2.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Phillies' 4-run eighth fuels rally past Athletics
May 6, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Adolis García (53) celebrates his home run with second baseman Edmundo Sosa (33) against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Edmundo Sosa delivered a go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning as the Philadelphia Phillies rallied to notch a 6-3 victory over the visiting Athletics on Wednesday.
Brandon Marsh had three hits and an RBI for Philadelphia, which improved to 8-1 under interim manager Don Mattingly. Adolis Garcia homered for the Phillies while J.T. Realmuto, Garcia and Sosa each had two hits.
A’s left-hander Jeffrey Springs, who exited his last outing with hip soreness, gave up two runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings with four strikeouts and no walks in a crisp 75-pitch performance. Nick Kurtz finished with two hits and an RBI as he reached base for the 30th straight game.
In his third start since returning from a blood clot in his shoulder, Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler allowed three runs and five hits in 6 1/3 innings.
The Phillies trailed 3-2 in the eighth inning when Kyle Schwarber drew a leadoff walk against Jack Perkins (2-1). Bryce Harper reached on an error by second baseman Jeff McNeil that spoiled a potential double play, then Garcia singled to load the bases.
Sosa grounded his two-run single up the middle to give Philadelphia the lead. The Athletics brought in Hogan Harris for the platoon advantage against Brandon Marsh, but Marsh stroked an RBI single before Justin Crawford’s RBI groundout made it 6-3 as the Phillies’ four-run frame featured two unearned runs.
The A’s loaded the bases against Brad Keller with two outs in the ninth, but the veteran right-hander got Jacob Wilson on a grounder back to the mound to end it. Orion Kerkering (1-0) recorded the final out of the eighth.
Kurtz’s RBI single in the fifth made it 2-0, but Philadelphia got a run back in the bottom half as Marsh tripled and scored on a grounder by Felix Reyes. Tyler Soderstrom led off the sixth with a homer against Wheeler to make it 3-1.
The Phillies answered again, this time with Garcia’s solo homer in their half of the sixth.
Perkins pitched the seventh for the A’s, striking out a pair, before the right-hander ran into trouble in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pete Alonso helps power Orioles past Marlins
May 6, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman (35) congratulates Pete Alonso (25) on his three-run home run in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images Pete Alonso hammered a three-run home run and Adley Rutschman smacked two run-scoring doubles as the Baltimore Orioles beat the host Miami Marlins 7-4 on Wednesday night.
It’s the second victory in a row following a five-game skid for the Orioles, who will go for a series sweep on Thursday.
Orioles starter Brandon Young (3-1) worked six innings, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Rico Garcia pitched the ninth for his second save as four pitchers combined on a six-hitter.
Baltimore won despite being limited to seven hits, though the Orioles drew seven walks. Taylor Ward picked up three of the walks and scored three runs.
Jakob Marsee drove in two runs, but the Marlins lost their fourth game in a row and for the fifth time in six games.
Marlins starter Eury Perez (2-4) lasted five-plus innings and was charged with a season-high five earned runs on four hits and five walks with six strikeouts.
Dax Fulton entered to pitch for Miami in the sixth inning in his major league debut, striking out Dylan Beavers and Coby Mayo as the first batters he faced with two runners on base.
Both teams scored in the first inning.
Alonso’s seventh homer of the season was a three-run blast that came with one out after Ward walked and Rutschman was hit by a pitch.
The first two Marlins were retired before two runners reached base and Marsee knocked them in with a double on an 0-2 splitter. Owen Caissie’s single drove in Marsee.
The Orioles went back ahead in the fourth on Beavers’ two-out double. Rutschman doubled in Ward in the fifth with two outs.
Rutschman’s seventh-inning double stretched the lead to 6-3.
The Marlins got a run in the seventh, with pinch hitter Otto Lopez doubling and scoring on Xavier Edwards’ groundout.
–Field Level Media
CJ Abrams (5 RBIs), Nationals slam Twins
Phillies' 4-run eighth fuels rally past Athletics
