NBA Tank Watch: Bucks can't even figure out how to lose, while Wizards get creative in the form

The Bucks have made a mess for themselves. But that's been true for a while. 

Bucks co-owner Wes Edens noted last week that Giannis Antetokounmpo is going into the final year of his contract, which Edens said means "one of two things will happen: Either he will be extended or he will be traded."

Cool. You will be forgiven if you're dubious about the Bucks continuing down the will-they-or-won't-they path with Giannis that has mired them in an unenviable limbo. The organization's inability to pick a lane with their superstar has spilled over into decision-making about whether or not he plays again this season. The Bucks reportedly think it's better if Antetokounmpo -- who has only played 36 games due to various injuries -- sits out the rest of the way. Giannis, unsurprisingly, disagrees. The next time the player and the franchise are publicly aligned will be the first. 

The combination of not trading Antetokounmpo while simultaneously kinda sorta maybe trying to win some games here and there has left the Bucks stuck in the worst possible spot in the standings: the mediocre middle. Monday's blowout road loss to the Clippers guaranteed the Bucks will finish with a losing record. Pick whichever prediction model you like. They all have Milwaukee missing out on the Play-In. But you don't need a fancy algorithm to figure that out. Watching a couple Bucks games would have led you to the same answer. Once they decided not to trade Giannis at the deadline, the smart move would have been to shut him down for the remainder of the season and lean hard into the tank. Instead, they won some meaningless games in February and tricked themselves -- and maybe Antetokounmpo, too -- into thinking they could possibly make a run. 

That was never going to happen. Now, they're locked into jockeying with the Bulls for who goes into the lottery with the ninth- or 10th-worst record. If they finish 10th worst, the Bucks will have a 13.9% shot at a top-four pick (keeping in mind that they get the worst pick between their own and the Pelicans, which is owed to Atlanta). If they finish ninth, that comes with a 20.3% chance at a top-four pick. But there was a point in the season -- again, sometime around that useless February win streak -- when the Bucks could have chosen to optimize their lottery odds. In that scenario, they might have fallen as far as the seventh-worst record, which would have boosted their chances to pick in the top four to 32% -- or more than double what they're looking at if they finish 10th worst and just outside the Play-In. 

The choice shouldn't have been hard, but Milwaukee evidently can't help itself. The last few weeks, we've had the Bucks on the Dishonorable Mention list in the tank rankings. No more. Much like their playoff hopes, they've been eliminated from Tank Watch. We hope they conduct an audit on what they've managed to not accomplish this season. 

◦ Note:  Teams are rated based on who's doing the best job of being bad in a given week. Teams that lose and find innovative ways to get around the league's player participation policy will rise in the rankings. Teams that accidentally win a game they wish they had lost will fall. 

NBA Tank Rankings -- March 24

1. Washington Wizards (16-55)

Last week: 1

Losers of 16 in a row, the longest active streak in the NBA, Washington is now just a half-game off the Pacers' pace for the worst record in the league.

The Wiz got creative last week. Not only did they get steamrolled at home by 20 against OKC, but they picked a fight with the defending champs and managed to get some players ejected in the process.

Justin Champagnie was suspended for a game due to the incident. You know who wasn't available to help the Wizards in a loss to the Knicks the very next day? Justin Champagnie. 

Chess, not checkers. 

2. Indiana Pacers (16-56)

Last week: 2

Had their 16-game losing streak snapped with a freak two-point road win in Orlando on Monday night. Indiana shut down Ivica Zubac for the remainder of the season after he suffered a broken rib in their loss to the Blazers. Zubac played five games for Indiana before the injury (which was about six too many). 

3. Brooklyn Nets (17-55)

Last week: 8

The Nets have worked themselves into a nice rut. They've lost eight in a row; only the Wizards have more consecutive Ls. That stretch includes narrow, single-digit defeats at home against the Knicks and on the road against their fellow tankers in Sacramento. 

4. Sacramento Kings (19-53)

Last week: 8

Tank Watch has been hard on the Kings of late because we expect less out of them. Despite the aforementioned home win over the Nets, we should give credit where it's due: Sacramento has the worst record in the West and the fourth-worst league-wide. 

Coming into the season, the Kings thought they could compete in the West with a bunch of ball-dominant high-usage players like Russell Westbrook, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Dennis Schroder. That was a bad plan. Embracing the tank is a better one. 

5. Utah Jazz (21-51)

Last week: 5

Last week, the Jazz became the fifth team to be eliminated from the playoffs. Walker Kessler, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkić were previously shut down for the season. Lauri Markkanen is out at least another two weeks with a hip injury. Keyonte George is out at least two weeks with a hamstring issue. And George's understudy, Isaiah Collier, has missed the last several, also with a hamstring problem. The injuries in Utah appear to be contagious. Stay safe out there, Salt Lake City. 

6. Dallas Mavericks (23-49)

Last week: 6 

The Mavericks blew a 15-point lead at home on Monday and lost in overtime to the Warriors.  In the process, Dallas became the sixth and latest team to be eliminated from the postseason. 

The Mavs have lost 13 of their last 15 overall and 12 straight at home. They need every L they can get with the Grizzlies right behind them.

7. Memphis Grizzlies (24-47)

Last week: 4

The Grizzlies have lost 11 of their last 12. They're still keeping Ty Jerome out of back-to-backs. No one has heard from Ja Morant in ages. They're running out starting lineups with Olivier-Maxence Prosper, GG Jackson, Jaylen Wells, Javon Small and Walter Clayton. All that and they're still only a half-game worse than the Pelicans for 12th place in the West.

8. Chicago Bulls (29-42)

Last week: 8

Chicago messed around and got an unnecessary home win against the Rockets on Monday. The Bulls are now tied with the Milwaukee Bucks for 11th in the East. Think on your sins, Chicago.

Tank Watch Game(s) of the Week

Wizards at Jazz, Wednesday, 9 p.m. ET

Can the Wizards make it 17 consecutive losses? Or will the Jazz snap Washington's streak and add another L to their record? High possibility for shenanigans in this one. 

Bulls at Grizzlies, Saturday, 8 p.m. ET

Time for the Bulls to not show us something. 

Tankathon Spin of the Week

Let's pretend for a second that trading Luka Dončić ended up earning Mavericks fans some serious make-good karma from the universe. Fine. But landing Cooper Flagg and the first pick in this year's loaded draft seems like a bit of an overcorrection.