The race for the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft is such a mess - SB Nation

If bad NBA teams really want a shot at drafting Luka Doncic (or DeAndre Ayton, or Mo Bamba, or Michael Porter, or Marvin Bagley, or Trae Young), they aren't doing a good job of proving it.

There are a whopping eight teams with 16-19 wins right now: Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago, Brooklyn, Dallas, Sacramento, Phoenix, and Memphis. Of those, only the Nets don't own the rights to their own pick. So all of them have an incentive to be worse than the other teams in the mix, so they will have a better shot at the best prospects in what should be an excellent NBA draft.

The problem is that the teams are so bad, they can't help but beat each other. That was the fate of the Kings on Monday, who scored just nine points in the first quarter, fell behind by 21, and still beat the Bulls. Chicago has lost seven straight, having broken up the magical pairing of Nikola Mirotic and Bobby Portis.

This is one subtext of Thursday's NBA trade deadline. It's not just about really good teams swinging to improve or mid-tier clubs deciding whether to give up the ghost (hi, Clippers). It's also about these very bad teams making themselves worse. It's truly a race to the bottom, and only the bold will succeed.

Scores Galore ...

POR 91, DET 111
WAS 111, IND 102
ORL 111, MIA 109
UTA 133, NOP 109
CHA 104, DEN 121
CHI 98, SAC 104
DAL 101, LAC 104

... And So Much More

Heavens above us please give Zach LaVine's knees the strength to keep dunking like this for years to come. And JaKarr Sampson, thank you for your service.

Uh ... Blake Griffin's Pistons are pretty good.

Bad news: Aaron Gordon is out of the dunk contest due to a hip injury. Good news: Donovan Mitchell is in. Speaking of Mitchell, here's Seerat Sohi on what he fears.

Might the Nuggets trade for Marcus Smart?

WE HAVE A DO-OVER!

Just a phenomenal temper tantrum from Robin Lopez amid his ejection. Something about Bulls big men makes them go nuts in Sacramento.

Here's Zach Lowe's excellent big trade deadline preview. And here's Brian Windhorst and Bobby Marks on the backdrop of this trade period: There's a huge salary crunch in the league right now.

We have a trade! Tyler Zeller to the Bucks for Rashad Vaughn and a second. The Nets, who are not tanking, like second-round picks.

And finally: Dirk Nowitzki became only the sixth player in NBA history to play 50,000 minutes. He's played every single one of them with the Dallas Mavericks. And yet... they misspelled his name on his jersey! Come on, Mavs!

Be excellent to each other.

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Every great scorer needs to learn Dirk Nowitzki's one-legged fadeaway

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