Mark Cuban: If NBA is anti-tanking, how do buyouts make sense?

Mark Cuban isn’t done poking holes in the NBA’s tanking logic.

As the league ramps up its anti-tanking push — with commissioner Adam Silver openly acknowledging the issue has gotten worse — the former Mavericks majority owner took to social media to raise a fairly uncomfortable follow-up question. And it cuts right to the heart of roster management late in the season.

“It will be interesting to see if the @nba, as part of the anti tanking push, will eliminate in season buyouts?” Cuban wrote. “Teams above the aprons can’t sign bought out players above the MLE. Signifying they are high value players.

“If you have to try to win every game, how can you waive a high value player, knowing that a competing team will sign them as a way to get better?”

It’s a classic Cuban move. Zoom out. Spot the contradiction. Say the quiet part out loud.

If the league is serious about competitive integrity, buyouts sit in a gray area. A non-contender waiving a useful veteran in late February isn’t technically tanking, but it sure feels like a gift-wrapped upgrade for a contender.

Cuban’s point is simple: You can’t demand teams try to win every night while also allowing them to improve other teams by cutting loose “high-value” players.

Either the NBA tightens that loophole — or admits the line between strategy and tanking isn’t as clean as it pretends.