Worst record gets 30 balls. Next gets 29 and so on until you get to the best record with one ball. 30 balls are picked for all 30 draft slots. The worst teams still get the best odds, but the difference is so small and every team still has such a small chance at getting the #1 pick that it’s not worth tanking. You’re also not guaranteed a top 4-5 pick based on your record because every slot is chosen by the balls.
I think I like this idea best followed by 200 lottery balls where the bottom 5 get 20 each, 6-10 get 16 each and 11-30 get one each.
Either one would make lottery night even more exciting knowing we always have a shot at the first overall pick, it is easy to understand, and it pretty much eliminates the strong incentives to tank.
I think I’d put a twist on the idea quoted at the top: The champions automatically are excluded and pick 30th overall. After the 10th draw, all remaining teams‘ pick is based on record, so that way no team that misses the playoffs ever ends up with a pick in the bottom 20s.
30 out of 464 balls = 6.5% chance of first overall
17 out of 464 balls = 3.7% chance of first overall
The first listed odds are worst record and second is the best team that missed the playoffs. Not much difference. Then the runner-up in the Finals have a 2 of 464 chance so 0.4%.
