Tanking, as it is today, would have killed the NBA 20 years ago but now it's mostly about perception. Silver has to talk about it (in response to media inquiries) but I doubt it's really that big of a deal to him.
When this league's finances revolved around the attendance numbers, a franchise couldn't afford to give away even half a season. Most "tanking" back then didn't occur until the team was mathematically eliminated. But now, the national TV contract pays the bills for all the teams and the Networks can schedule away from the non-competitive games (for the most part). So, no harm, no foul IMO.
They really should just go back to a reverse order of finish. If they decide that tanking really is a problem, they have the tool they need to put it under control. Use a portion of the TV money to disincentivise teams from tanking. You might occasionally see a season long tank but for the most part, every team will have a financial reason to compete throughout all 82 games.