Byron Scott: Lakers won't lose on purpose to save their draft pick

The Lakers have the second-worst record in the league at the moment, and it's important that they stay near the bottom of the standings if they want to hang on to their pick in this year's NBA Draft.

L.A. traded away the pick as part of the deal to acquire Steve Nash back in 2012, and it now belongs to the Sixers. But it only conveys this season if it falls outside of the top three. And while the draft lottery will ultimately determine where that pick falls, the Lakers could dramatically improve their chances of keeping it by losing as many games as possible the rest of the way.

There are plenty of fans who see this as a perfectly realistic way to proceed, but players and coaches in the league simply are not wired that way, no matter the set of circumstances. Byron Scott reiterated this to reporters on Wednesday, and insisted that the Lakers would never, ever attempt to lose games on purpose: 

This isn't a case of Scott being stubborn or giving us yet another glimpse into his old-school mentality. This is universally the case around the league, because even if there was a mandate from the front office to drop games intentionally, careers in the NBA are short, and players and coaches wouldn't do anything that might potentially limit their individual ceilings for success.

Now, as far as what happens at the organizational level? That's obviously a completely different story. A front office can put a substandard team together that it knows has little chance to compete, and it happens all the time with the league's bottom-feeders. But once that team is assembled, the players and coaches are going to do what they can to win every time they take the floor, even if the odds are stacked against them all season long, and even if a first round draft pick may potentially be at stake.