Tanking has become such an overused term that it's basically meaningless, especially since it's replaced what used to be called "rebuilding".
What Philly is doing is fairly unprecedented in its scope, but they also haven't won a single lottery and it's very dubious whether it'll pay off. The Knicks blew up their team midseason once it was clear Carmelo would need surgery and the team was bad even when he was playing. Other than them I don't see anyone actively trying to bottom out, just a lot of fans throwing the term around at the drop of a hat.
I think it is maybe a little different right now because there is also the impending increase in salary cap and teams are more wary of taking on any future contracts until they know what the number is. I think in past seasons we have seen the Knicks, in a similar situation, make trades for guys like Marbury, Francis etc midseason and still were putting at least a somewhat entertaining product on the floor.. While the end of seasons have always featured dubious lineups and mystery ailments for star players, it seems like that stuff is happening earlier and earlier in the season.
Also with some GMs wising up (perhaps after cleveland won the lottery with the clippers unprotected pick) all picks that are traded now have certain degrees of protection. At least it seems that way to me, haven't researched whether that is true. So you have a team like the Lakers that has a crazy incentive to be bad or they completely lose their pick after an awful season. I think they probably need to get rid of pick protections as a start. Either trade first rounders or don't.
These are good points. I think one thing that really has changed from top to bottom is that teams are increasingly treating the regular season as a formality. Healthy rest has gone from something extraordinary to the norm. I blame Pop for that one . Since reducing the number of games isn't going to happen, I hope they go ahead and lengthen the season to add more rest days.
Pick protections are also adding some perverse incentives to the system. I don't know if I'd eliminate them, but at least some standard rules would help.
The basketball regular season is irrelevant in this new competitive landscape. Fans want contests that are events, when the outcome is actually meaningful. In football, almost every game means something because there are only 16 games and the playoff system is lose and you're out. Even with a fraction of games played compared to the other leagues, their business is thriving. In European soccer leagues, the "regular season" is actually their championship, so the games always matter regardless of whether the opponent is the bottom of the rung or a top team. This ensures that every contest is significant.
Contrast that with the NBA where compared to the other leagues the most teams (16) make the playoffs. In fact, more teams make the playoffs than not (14)! At least in baseball you cannot slumber through the regular season because only 3 teams make the playoffs outright and 2 have that stupid wild card playoff (edit: I forgot to say in each "league," AL and NL). Going through an extended slump during the baseball season makes it very difficult to get into the playoffs.
I've said it countless times but the main problem is that there are too many teams. Basketball is the sport with the least emphasis on team play over individual talent. The elite players are only so few and every team is trying to get them. For many teams the best way to do so is by entering the lottery and hoping for some fortune. Otherwise, for many small-market teams the odds of getting a franchise talent who is also willing to re-sign long term to your team is very small.
What percentage of teams that make the playoffs actually have a shot at winning the title? This year it may be as high as 50% but in typical years the percentage is much lower. How come other leagues do just fine with less playoff teams but a higher percentage chance that each one has a shot at winning? Obviously not every team that makes the playoffs in any sport has a realistic chance at a title, but at least it usually means you are on the right track. The NBA playoffs now include teams that could be considered worse off than ones in the lottery, which is why you've got teams who don't even want to make the playoffs.
Not to mention the new CBA rules have made it 1) harder for struggling teams to get a good return on their departing stars and 2) made stars impossible to extend while under contract since going to free agency is more financially lucrative. So the odds are stacked against the small market teams once again.
There are some positive trends though. Rule changes have made teams like the Spurs, Hawks, and may even the future Celtics competitive without a clear cut MVP-level star in their lineup. However, we don't know for sure how fluky the Spurs title last year may prove to be. It could be that in the playoffs the quantity-not-quality depth that helps in the regular season does not translate as much. The playoffs are a different beast than the regular season. The other positive is the proposed playoff seeding reform that will ensure the 16 best teams record-wise actually make the playoffs.
Other than that, I honestly don't know what feasible changes they could make since they will never reduce the number of games in the regular season and playoffs due to the revenue and TV contracts that restrict change. The wheel system is the only truly fair system but it would not even be able to be enacted until after all the future draft picks that have been traded or awarded. They could reduce the number of playoff teams and create some kind of alternative tournament for the lottery teams to make up that revenue, perhaps. Needless to say there are a lot of forces conspiring to prevent change but at least since Silver has taken over there is some discussion happening. The increase is intelligent basketball reporting, coinciding with the analytics movement is also shifting public awareness about these issues.
With the decline in baseball from public relevancy basketball is in a prime position to secure itself as the no. 2 sport. However, it needs to make some bold changes in the system to avoid complacency. The owners need to come together and be willing to vote against their own short term self-interest to strengthen the league. If they don't do that it doesn't really matter what Silver says as it's just going to die in the legislature.