The NBA’s second half is now underway, which means the playoffs are quickly approaching. To some, this is the time of another great tankathon. In a recently unpredictable lottery, positioning yourself for success has never been more important. 

In a whirlwind season for the Philadelphia 76ers, they have joined this race. They have a top-six protected pick that they likely never thought would even come up in discussion this season. With Joel Embiid being shut down for the season due to his knee injury, this allows the Sixers to accept defeat on a season that was originally full of hope, but they have competition.

The Brooklyn Nets: An expected season of losses for the Brooklyn Nets has turned into more wins than people might’ve originally thought. They stand just two-and-a-half games back of the last and final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference. A trade deadline for them that consisted of acquiring D’Angelo Russell and keeping Cameron Johnson has allowed them to compete. They had won seven of their last 10 games, but have since dropped five straight. The Nets briefly jumped the Sixers in the standings after some late-game heroics from Nic Claxton to defeat Philadelphia on Feb. 22, but the two teams now find themselves in a deadlock at 21-40. 

The Toronto Raptors: They have experienced a mixture of competing and tanking. They are 12-11 in their last 23 games, lifting them back up from the basement of the NBA. They still stand four games back of the last play-in spot in the conference, but they have hope. According to ESPN’s strength of schedule measurement, the Toronto Raptors have the easiest remaining schedule in the NBA for the rest of the season. Most also forget that the Raptors made a surprise trade for Brandon Ingram before the deadline’s expiration. He is expected to be back in a few weeks. The organization might and likely will sell out to be a surprise play-in team. 

The upcoming stretch for the Sixers could not be more important. If they can finish the season below the Nets and Raptors in the Eastern Conference standings, they would have a 64% chance of keeping their selection in the NBA lottery. If they finish below just one of those teams, it drops to 46%. In a nightmare scenario where they finish above both of those teams, it drops to 32%. 

These three aren’t the only teams to watch. The Wizards have the worst record in the NBA record with just 11 wins, followed by the Charlotte Hornets with 14, the Utah Jazz with 15, and the New Orleans Pelicans with 17. With the new lottery odds format, the three worst records are tied 14.0% chance of getting the number one overall pick, and the fourth place spot has a 12.5% chance of getting the first overall pick. With the Wizards likely locked into one of those three spots, the rest of the pack will be the deciders on the two teams to join them. The Jazz and Pelicans have a top-10 strength of schedule left, meanwhile, the Hornets are in the bottom 10. 

In the eyes of the public, the upcoming draft class consists of three top players, with Cooper Flagg being the clear one, and the Rutgers duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey being two and three. It feels crucial to land a top-three pick, despite other top players being excellent like Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe and BYU’s Egor Demin. 

The goal for all the teams listed should be to put themselves in the best possible spot to get one of these top picks, but some will decide to win games. The Nets and Raptors have been flirting with mediocrity with their winning stretches over the last month. In a draft that feels so evident with franchise-changing talent, it’s crucial to lose now in order to win later. These organizations would be making a cataclysmic error if they didn’t set themselves up nicely for the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery. The margin for error is small when trying to get a top pick. However, most of these teams will have players and coaches fighting to keep their jobs or auditioning for a job elsewhere, which creates a challenge. 

When playoff pushes are highlighted in March, you might see some unexpected things from these teams pushing buttons in hopes of getting the lottery balls in their favor. It can go unnoticed once the teams at the bottom are forgotten about as national television hypes up playoff teams and playoff matchups. It’s arguably more fun to see the paths teams will go to set themselves up for failure than watching LeBron James and Luka Doncic.

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