NBA Tank Commanders: The players who are pushing their teams to the front of the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes

With just a couple weeks left in the regular season, there are two races going on simultaneously in the NBA. One is for postseason seeding, as teams jockey for positions and the all-important top-six spots in each conference that guarantee a first-round appearance. The other is for lottery odds, as teams have been aggressive tanking their way to the bottom this season in hopes of landing the No. 1 overall pick and the chance to select Duke’s Cooper Flagg in June’s NBA Draft. 

There are levels to the tank race, as some teams waited until after the All-Star break to pull the plug — most notably San Antonio after losing Victor Wembanyama for the season — while others have been putting in the work all season. Despite the best efforts of the Spurs over the last two months, there is a pretty clear breakaway with the seven worst teams in the NBA. 

Teams like the Jazz and Wizards aren’t new to this, they’re true to this, and have been planning their own demise on the court for more than a year in hopes of landing a franchise cornerstone in the 2025 NBA Draft as part of a long-term plan. Others, like the Pelicans and 76ers, didn’t plan on being as bad as they have been, but have embraced their fate for this season and are hopeful to bounce back next season with a young star, better help and better injury luck. 

As we move ever-closer to the end of the season and the May 12 Draft Lottery, I wanted to take a look at the players on each of those seven teams that have been the most valuable to their team in terms of collecting ping-pong balls — and which players have provided the greatest internal resistance to their team’s tank efforts.

My methodology was fairly simple: Using NBA.com’s stats site, I looked at each team’s 50 most used three-man lineups. For each unique three-man lineup that had a net rating of -10.0 or worse, a player got a point. For each lineup that had a net rating of 1.0 or higher, they lost a point. I’m sure this isn’t a perfect system, but I felt that a net rating of -10.0 was a pretty good indicator that particular group was contributing to losing. On the other side, if you were in a frequently used lineup that had a positive net rating for one of these seven teams, you had to be fighting the good fight despite the best efforts of the organization to lose games. 

Without further ado, here are the Tank Commanders for the seven worst teams in the NBA this season. 

Washington Wizards: Bub Carrington (18 Tank Commander points)

There really isn’t anyone doing it like the Wizards this season, because when they lose, they lose in spectacular fashion. Of their 50 most used three-man lineups, none of them have a positive net rating — the best group is Poole-Kispert-Coulibaly at a -2.2. I’m not even sure how you pull that off as an organization, but their work in the first half of the season is unmatched, as evidenced by two guys they traded (Kuzma and Valanciunas) being so high on this list. Rookie guard Bub Carrington got the most points, but he has plenty of company, as an incredible seven Wizards are part of 10 or more three-man groups with a -10.0 or worse net rating (again, out of only the 50 most used lineups). 

Honorable mention: Bilal Coulibaly (16), Jordan Poole (13), Alex Sarr (11), Kyle Kuzma (11), Corey Kispert (10), Jonas Valanciunas (10), Kyshawn George (9)

Resistance award: None

The Jazz have really turned it on of late to lock up their spot at the bottom of the West, incurring a $100,000 fine in the process for holding Lauri Markkanen out of games, and have some strong contenders for the Tank Commander role. George shows up most frequently, as the young guard has had a tough sophomore campaign, but he has gotten plenty help from the rest of Utah’s young core in getting the Jazz firmly into the all-important bottom three in the league for the best lottery odds. 

Honorable mention: Walker Kessler (7), Isaiah Collier (7), Cody Williams (6), Kyle Filipowski (5)

Resistance award: John Collins (-5)

Three members of the Jazz earned negative points in my count — John Collins, Collin Sexton (-3), and Lauri Markkanen (-1). None of those are surprising, but it’s the veteran forward in Collins who features in more lineups with a positive net rating than anyone else on the team. As such, I wouldn’t expect the Jazz to be rushing him back from his sprained ankle. 

I have to admit the Hornets broke my system a bit because they’ve played so many different lineups — and have so few lineups with heavy minutes — that just looking at the top 50 doesn’t really capture the full breadth of their struggles. As an example, Utah has played 300 fewer three-man lineups this season than Charlotte. Smith Jr. got the most points in my count, but it’s really the fact they’ve had so many different lineups and so many players play for them that tells the story of why Charlotte has the league’s third-worst record. 

Honorable mention: Tidjane Salaun (3), Josh Green (3)

Resistance award: Cody Martin and Lonzo Ball (-7)

If you were wondering why Martin got traded to Phoenix at the deadline, it’s probably because he was part of a lot of lineups with positive impact. Ball and Brandon Miller (-6) likewise were in a lot of positive three-man groups before their injuries, so if there’s a reason for some optimism in Charlotte, it’s that there were some solid groupings when they had their best players on the floor. 

New Orleans Pelicans: Yves Missi (12 points)

As is the case with a lot of these teams, it’s a young player thrust into a major role that ends up at the top of the list. In New Orleans, it’s rookie center Yves Missi who has had to log a ton of minutes for a team ravaged by injuries. I don’t think this should be an indictment of Missi (or really, any of the players on this list) as much as a reminder that it’s hard to impact winning as a young player, especially when there’s very little in the way of stability around you. 

Honorable mention: Jordan Hawkins (7), Javonte Green (6), Trey Murphy III (5)

Resistance award: Zion Williamson and Kelly Olynyk (-1)

As has been the case throughout his career, when he’s healthy and playing, Zion’s awesome. The problem is availability, and after so many stops and starts in his young career, I’m not sure Pelicans fans are willing to play the “what if he can do this for a full year” game with Williamson’s end of season play. 

When the Nets went out this past summer and traded to get their own picks back from Houston that they traded away in the James Harden, there was no secret what the plan was for this season. While they vastly overachieved early in the year, they’ve pulled the rip cord down the stretch to get themselves at least in the mix for Flagg and what should be at least a pick in the top half of the lottery. Claxton has featured in most of Brooklyn’s worst three-man groups by far, which is partly a product of the Nets managing to go 5-4 in games he’s been inactive. 

Honorable mention: Ziaire Williams (8), Keon Johnson (8), Jalen Wilson (7), Noah Clowney (5)

Resistance award: Dennis Schröder (-4)

Schröder was a huge reason for Brooklyn’s rather shocking hot start to the season, and despite being traded after 23 games because he was playing too well, he still ends up at the top of the Nets resistance leaderboard, just over Day’Ron Sharpe (-2) and Cam Thomas (-1). 

Philadelphia 76ers: Andre Drummond (5 points)

Similar to the Hornets, the Sixers’ story is more about a war of attrition than it is a handful of players serving as the driving force for their struggles. That said, it probably shouldn’t be a surprise that a team built to complement Joel Embiid has not looked good with Andre Drummond on the floor. 

Honorable mention: Quentin Grimes (3), Justin Edwards (2), Tyrese Maxey (2)

Resistance award: Guerschon Yabusele (-8)

If the Sixers have had a good lineup this season, Yabu has been a part of it. This was easily the part of this exercise that brought me the most joy. It’s time for Philly to build around Yabu. 

The Raptors have not been as egregious as some of the other teams, in that they’ve been losing a lot but have been largely competitive this season. That means there aren’t a lot of catastrophic lineup groupings, but there also aren’t a ton of good ones either. That all tracks for a team that didn’t come into this season trying to be the worst team in the league, but also made a big trade at the deadline for a guy who hasn’t played yet. Depth was always the concern for this Raptors squad and that largely shows up in this exercise. Mogbo edged out RJ Barrett and Jamal Shead for the Tank Commander role, but most of the players you find in their worst lineups are from the bench groups. 

Honorable mention: RJ Barret (4), Jamal Shead (4), Gradey Dick (2), Ochai Agbaji (2)

Resistance award: Davion Mitchell and Ja’Kobe Walter (-3)

Walter has a few lineups with Scottie Barnes that crushed this year (which I assume overlap), while Mitchell has been part of some solid groupings and, more importantly, hasn’t been part of any of their worst lineups.