Podcast Summary: Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective

Episode: Any Solution For NBA Tanking? + Ja Morant’s Trade Market
Date: January 12, 2026
Host: Brian Windhorst
Panel: Tim Bontemps, Tim McMahon
Produced by: ESPN, Omaha Productions

Overview

This episode takes a deep dive into two of the NBA’s most fraught current storylines:

1. The ongoing prevalence of tanking in the NBA, exploring why it persists despite league efforts, the teams most actively engaged in it, and potential reforms;
2. The trade market dynamics for troubled stars, specifically Ja Morant, and parallels to Trae Young's recent situation.

The podcast maintains its trademark candid, mildly sarcastic tone, balancing detailed analysis with insider banter and notable quotes.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Game Recaps and Oddities (00:31–04:15)

• Brief mention of notable NBA games, upsets, and odd scheduling — e.g., Spurs’ tough back-to-back travel.
• Bontemps criticizes league scheduling:

  "I thought it had to be a 24 hour gap between from start to start of the games. And I was told it's either 22 or 22 and a half. There wasn't an exact answer." (02:21)

2. Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and the "Picture of Tanking" (04:15–08:32)

• The hosts dissect what Brian calls “the picture of tanking,” sparked by a viral image from the Jazz-Hornets game: Jazz execs and owners looking disengaged while their team suffered a record loss.
• Teams like the Jazz and Wizards are intentionally keeping their top-protected picks through subtle (and not-so-subtle) means, benching healthy players for “rest,” especially before crucial matchups with teams in similar tanking territory.

Quote:

"The picture of tanking."
– Anonymous NBA executive texting Brian Windhorst about Jazz front office during a blowout (04:59)

• Discussion underscores the reality that for some franchises, preserving draft position outweighs on-court competitiveness.

3. Why Tanking Happens: Incentives & Draft Realities (08:32–18:12)

• Windhorst and the panel clarify they don't blame teams; incentives are "baked into the system."
• The current crop of coveted draft players (AJ DeBanza, Darren Peterson, Cameron Boozer, Caleb Wilson) means teams are desperate to keep their picks.

Jazz/Wizards Specifics:

• Top-eight protection on picks incentivizes both franchises to prioritize losing enough to guarantee draft retention, often at the expense of on-court product.

Quote:

"If you think this is bad now, we're in January. It's going to get so much worse."
– Brian Windhorst (09:02)

4. The NBA’s Failed Anti-Tanking Reforms (14:18–21:16)

• Flattening lottery odds was meant to discourage losing, but may have backfired — now mid-lottery teams "leap up" past more profoundly bad teams more often, compounding the incentive for playoff-irrelevant teams to crash deep for protection.
• Examples cited:
  • Spurs’ luck in jumping the lottery line despite mediocre records
  • Mavericks, Wizards, Jazz all manipulating protection zones

Quote:

"The fact that tanking is a smart strategy is the NBA's biggest problem. I don't know how to fix it."
– Tim McMahon (14:18)

5. Solutions (or Not): Radical and Practical (18:12–25:28)

• Relegation, while oft-discussed by European observers, is “not coming to the NBA”—it’s antithetical to league's egalitarian goals.

Incentive Tweaks Proposed:

• Lottery odds based on wins post-All-Star break instead of losses (so tanking teams push to win late).
• Equal lottery odds for all non-playoff teams.

Quote:

"Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome."
– Brian Windhorst quoting Charlie Munger (21:37)

• McMahon suggests docking luxury tax payouts for chronic tankers.
• Panel agrees: as long as high picks are the only reliable path to getting “game-changers,” teams will keep tanking.

6. The Double-Edged Sword of Tanking (25:27–32:00)

• Player development is often a euphemism for tanking—throwing young guys into non-competitive environments breeds bad habits and a losing culture.
• Salary cap realities and the necessity to draft superstars keep the tank incentive strong.
• McMahon on the struggle for coaches:

  "It's a brutal situation for everybody involved." (25:42)

7. The NBA Cup: A Possible Partial Fix? (23:29–30:38)

• The NBA Cup is discussed as an effort both to create new "engagement" and to counteract tanking—though not directly tied to the draft as a solution so far.
• Windhorst notes successful international analogues (like the Tottenham parade for winning Europa League), but also the differences in league structure and culture.

8. Ja Morant’s Trade Market Saga (30:38–48:39)

• Windhorst transitions ("Alright, so John Morant..."), stating Ja is "available" on the trade market, but Memphis's return prospects are bleak.
• Parallels to Trae Young: both current all-stars, both distressed assets with injury and/or behavior risk, both likely to net "underwhelming" returns (rotation players, bad contracts, minimal picks).

Quote:

"The combination of pain in the ass, injury prone, not that good anymore and big contract is a bad one."
– East NBA executive on Ja Morant (34:32)

• Internal situation is “untenable”; relationships are strained; both designates and all parties are ready to move on—pointing to a likely trade before the deadline, though the panel reiterates that the Grizzlies’ leverage is low.

"The Grizzlies have to trade Ja. You can't have the toothpaste out of the tube and then, you know, have to deal with the situation. He cannot be on the roster after February 6th. It will be an absolute mess."
– Tim McMahon (37:01)

• The group traces team-building parallels with other franchises’ star trades (Thunder trading Paul George and then Russell Westbrook, Jazz with Rudy Gobert, etc.).
• Grizzlies could end up with multiple medium lottery picks, but getting a foundational, transformative player via draft remains as elusive as ever.

9. Realities of “Rebuilding” and the Ceiling of Nice Prospects (44:04–47:35)

• Even successful development pipelines (Memphis’s depth, Spurs with Keldon Johnson, etc.) hit a ceiling unless a “stud” is found.
• Memphis’s best hope is to “get lucky” in the lottery and pair a future franchise player with their many solid role/future starter types.

Quote:

"It's like saying Kelton Johnson's a nice piece, Devin Vassell's a nice piece. It ain't going to matter until you get a stud. They thought they had a stud and now they don't."
– Brian Windhorst (45:57)

10. Jalen Brown’s Ref Rant and Celtics Fallout (51:04–59:00)

• Jaylen Brown, after a poor 4th quarter, goes off postgame on officiating and is expected to be fined.
• Bontemps summarizes his struggles:

  “He was horrendous in the fourth quarter of this game. It was not because of the refs...” (52:45)

• Panel ridicules the idea of bias, notes Brown averages more frees than ever, and highlights the connection between style of play and foul drawing.

11. Quick Hitters — Around the NBA (59:10–end)

• Rockets’ slide and Shingoon’s injury woes.
• Nuggets praised for surviving without Jokić, staying tight in the race:

  “It's just been a remarkable stretch for Denver to pull these wins out with a skeleton crew and a bunch of them." – Bontemps (64:10)

• Short banter about various stat leaders, injury notes, and playoff opportunities.

Most Memorable Quotes

• "The picture of tanking." – anonymous NBA exec (04:59)
• "If you think this is bad now... it's going to get so much worse." – Windhorst (09:02)
• "The fact that tanking is a smart strategy is the NBA's biggest problem. I don't know how to fix it." – McMahon (14:18)
• "Show me the incentive and I'll show you the outcome." — Windhorst quoting Charlie Munger (21:37)
• "They're a better team with Cam Spencer playing point guard than John Morant." – McMahon (47:01)
• "It's like saying Kelton Johnson's a nice piece, Devin Vassell's a nice piece. It ain't going to matter until you get a stud. They thought they had a stud and now they don't." – Windhorst (45:57)
• "I just don't see where the. I don't see where any kind of strong offer is coming in for him because frankly I think if there had been a strong offer somewhere, he wouldn't be on the team today." – C/Bontemps on the John Morant market (41:10)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:34–04:15: Cold open, travel and schedule quirks, setting up the tanking discussion
• 04:15–08:32: Utah Jazz tanking, viral sideline photo, Jazz/Wizards pick protection explained
• 08:32–18:12: Draft class importance, structural incentives, why tanking persists, “tanking timeline”
• 18:12–25:28: Solutions and reforms debated (lottery odds, NBA Cup, anti-relegation)
• 30:38–48:39: Ja Morant’s market, Grizzlies franchise crossroads, serial star asset management
• 51:04–59:00: Jaylen Brown/Celtics rant, context, and league-wide foul-drawing comparison
• 59:10–end: Rockets’ struggles, Nuggets' resilience, final scattered NBA news & sign-off

Tone & Language

• Candid, sometimes exasperated, laced with dry humor and sarcasm.
• Frequently uses “inside baseball” NBA references and a conversational back-and-forth.
• ‘Doctoral thesis’ and ‘crawl over glass’ imagery emphasize how fiercely teams chase even marginal draft odds.

Summary Takeaway

The NBA’s tanking epidemic is far from solved. League reforms have only shifted (not dulled) the incentives, and both teams and fans remain locked in a push-and-pull between immediate competitiveness and the quest for the kind of transformational player that’s (almost) only available at the top of the draft. This state of affairs breeds oddities, soul-draining stretches of losing, and awkward player movements — with Ja Morant’s market collapse the latest, sobering illustration of how quickly star value can vanish.

Memphis, Utah, Washington, and others will keep straddling the line between “the right thing for the franchise” and what’s worst for the spectacle, all while the league gamely searches for a better way.