The Mavericks are getting off light — and the Knicks are paying the price.
The NBA fined the Mavericks $750,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league” for sitting all of their key players in their penultimate game of the season in a blatant attempt to miss the play-in tournament and protect its 2023 first-round draft pick from conveying to the Knicks.
There is no punishment connected to the pick itself.
“The Mavericks violated the league’s player resting policy and demonstrated through actions and public statements the organization’s desire to lose the game in order to improve the chances of keeping its first-round pick in the NBA draft,” the league said in a statement.
“The league did not find that the players who participated in the game were not playing to win.”
The Mavericks, a half-game out of the play-in round, rested Kyrie Irving, Tim Hardaway Jr., Maxi Kleber, Josh Green, and Christian Wood.
Dallas only played Luka Doncic for a quarter against the Bulls in the game last Friday, which Coach Jason Kidd called an “organization decision.”
Dallas’ 2023 first-round pick, held by the Knicks from the 2019 Kristaps Porzingis trade, would not convey if it was in the top 10.
The ensuing 115-112 loss to Chicago put the Mavs in position for the No. 10 pick — if the draft lottery holds — on June 22 at the Barclays Center.
“The Dallas Mavericks’ decision to restrict key players from fully participating in an elimination game last Friday against Chicago undermined the integrity of our sport,” said Joe Dumars, NBA Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations. “The Mavericks’ actions failed our fans and our league.”
Unless the Mavericks’ first-round pick falls out of the top 10, the Knicks will have to wait until next year for the pick to convey — that is, if the Mavs don’t find themselves in the same position again.
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