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As the NBA’s future stars battle it out in March Madness, the league’s worst teams continue to take egregious steps to improve their draft lottery odds.
The three worst teams in the NBA—the Pacers, Wizards, and Nets—have lost a combined 39 games in a row following losses Sunday by Washington and Brooklyn.
The Nets had an opportunity to snap their losing streak against the equally weak Kings, but narrowly lost to extend their losing record to seven games. Indiana and Washington have each lost 16 games in a row, tying the Kings for the longest losing streak of the 2025–26 season.
Here’s where teams stack up in the race to the bottom of the NBA:
- Pacers (15–56)
- Wizards (16–55)
- Nets (17–54)
- Kings (19–53)
- Jazz (21–50)
With three blue-chip prospects expected in the 2026 draft—Darryn Peterson (Kansas), AJ Dybantsa (BYU), and Cameron Boozer (Duke)—it doesn’t appear that any of these teams are willing to risk their position at the bottom of the standings.
On Friday, the Pacers ruled out Ivica Zubac, their trade deadline acquisition for the remainder of the season, due to a rib injury. Pascal Siakam and Andrew Nembhard have been in and out of the lineup for several weeks.
Anthony Davis, the Wizards’ trade deadline acquisition, has yet to play for Washington and will be out until at least the end of the month. Trae Young, whom Washington acquired in January, is out indefinitely after playing just five games for the Wizards.
Nets leading scorer Michael Porter Jr. is out another two to three weeks with a hamstring strain.
The Jazz’s trade deadline acquisition, Jaren Jackson Jr., played just three games for Utah before he had to undergo surgery to remove a growth in his knee—but not before the team was fined $500,000 for sitting out players in the fourth quarter.
That hasn’t stopped Utah from sitting out other key players. Lauri Markkanen has been out since Feb. 23, while Keyonte George hasn’t played since March 11.
The Kings have already ruled out veteran All-Stars Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis for the remainder of the season.
The tanking mess stretches beyond the NBA’s bottom-dwellers.
The NBA added the play-in tournament in part to increase the number of competitive teams late in the season, giving the 9th and 10th teams in each conference a chance to qualify for the playoffs. This year, the gap between the 10th and 11th seeds in each conference is already 8.5 games.
The East’s No. 11 Bucks are even reportedly in a standoff with star Giannis Antetokounmpo about whether he should be shut down for the remainder of the season.
The NBA is exploring significant changes to its lottery rules in an attempt to curb tanking. ESPN reported in December that the league already presented possible changes to the Board of Governors, seeking input from owners and GMs.
Among the proposed changes are not allowing teams to draft in the top four in consecutive seasons and locking lottery positions by March 1.
It’s unclear whether any of these rules will take effect, but the earliest they would be implemented is next season. Teams typically vote on rule changes in the offseason, and they require a majority vote (23 of 30) to be enacted.
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