As Jazz, Wizards Race to Bottom, NBA Could Expand Fine Latitude

A Wednesday night game in Utah may end up being consequential to the future of the NBA. The Wizards and Jazz, both sitting at the bottom of their conferences with 15 wins each, face off for the second and final time.

Both teams are chasing the league’s worst record, and while the bottom three teams will have an equal shot at the top pick in the 2025 NBA draft (14%), the team in last can only drop as low as fifth—a valuable position in a draft projected to have strong top-end talent—while the better team can fall to sixth.

It would therefore benefit both teams to lose Wednesday’s game, making it enticing to rest their best players. However, that could come with a cost.

The NBA issued a Player Participation Policy starting last season which allows them to fine teams for resting “star” players. A first violation costs $100,000, a second costs $250,000, and every subsequent violation will be an additional $1 million on top of the $250,000 fine.

Utah received a $100,000 fine last week for resting Lauri Markkanen against Washington when the two first met on March 5. Markkanen missed nine games from Feb. 24 to March 10, but returned March 12 and has played in the team’s last four games.

The league is also reportedly investigating other teams, including the Thunder and Sixers, for potentially violating the policy meant to stop teams from tanking or contending teams like Oklahoma City from resting their stars for the playoffs.

A Loophole?

It appeared like there may be a loophole in the league’s policy since violations were based on resting “star” players. The policy defined star players as “any player who, in any of the prior three seasons, was named to the All-NBA Team or All-Star Team.” Markkanen qualified as a star for his All-Star appearance in 2023.

Teams without a “star” by the league’s definition, like the Nets, could ostensibly be free from the rules. Some teams have only one player who qualifies as a “star” like the Wizards (Khris Middleton) and Raptors (Scottie Barnes).

But in Part II of the policy, the NBA made sure to cover for “other” players as well: “The league office may elect in its discretion to investigate and/or impose discipline in other circumstances involving star player (or other player) non-participation.” This means the league could theoretically impose penalties for extended absences of any player, regardless of whether they qualify as a “star.”

However, the league has yet to crack down on other teams for violations despite several teams actively resting players. The Jazz are the only team that have been fined for violating the Player Participation Policy at this point in the season.