Bucks vs. 76ers prediction: NBA Thursday odds, picks, best bets

The word “tanking” is now part of the sports lexicon, and bettors are well-versed in this epidemic and fine print as they play a major role in handicapping. The NBA has tweaked rules to curb tanking, but unless drastic change occurs, the gerund form of this recently discovered verb is unfortunately here to stay. The main reason for this plague is how bottom-feeder teams are rewarded for more losses.Specifically, the draft lottery’s odds for the top overall pick are directly correlated to win percentage. The league has leveled off some of that, giving the three worst teams the same exact odds of 14.0 percent.

However, the fourth-worst win percentage has 12.5 percent and the fifth-worst has 10.5 percent, and so forth. Additionally, the odds apply only to the top four picks.Thus, each place in the standings automatically secures a certain draft slot, thereby directly incentivizing a team to finish worse in the standings. Additionally, the NBA’s commonplace trades involve much more than players switching uniforms.

Teams sweeten offers by agreeing to contingency outcomes of swapping draft picks.Those contingencies often serve as protection for landing a desirable lottery pick, which also accentuates handicapping angles. All this brings us to the Philadelphia 76ers, who absolutely must keep losing games.

While they have sustained legitimate injuries, skeptics presume the team is also sitting healthy players that would help them win. They currently hold the fifth-worst record and will keep their draft pick if they land among the top six.If not, the Oklahoma City Thunder get Philly’s pick. This consequence far outweighs a difference in percentage points of pingpong balls.

Philly absolutely must keep losing to either worsen its place or protect other teams from finishing with more losses. If the draft lottery were held today, the Sixers would land no worse than the ninth pick.That would take a statistical anomaly, but it is possible.

Since the lottery...