Would NBA ever consider changing their Draft system?

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I hate the lottery system (or at least as it is now). Given that superstars are far more important in the NBA than other sports, the current system really screws bad teams over. Not everyone that loses games is tanking. You might just suck. You might also WANT to play younger players to see what they have for future development. Yes, tanking has happened (Spurs to get Duncan is my favorite example, where they didn't let Robinson play after he was healthy), but on the aggregate, these guys are professionals, and they want to win. Also, if you're not winning a title, you need to develop young talent...so sometimes you play the young guys and lose a few more games than you should, but are doing so for the good of your franchise. I think the lottery either needs to be dropped entirely, or the odds for the worst teams need to go up much more. If you are the worst team in the league, you can get much better when you draft Shaq vs. Laettner. There can be a huge difference between just a few spots in the lottery, and in the system, as-is, the league assumes EVERYONE is conspiring to tank (which is ironic, given the conspiracy theories fans hold about the league re: refs and fixing the draft). That is simply not fair to bad teams. I'm not shocked we don't see a lot of these franchises get better quicker. Other than OKC having incredible luck (conspiracy theory: Stern wanted the new team to do well in the new market, so he gave them high picks) in the draft, a lot of the awful teams stay awful. That's partly due to coaching and player development. But...that's also partly due to the lottery.

[freshinthehouse]

Think MLB. Hardly is tanking even part of the discussion. It is time we evolve as a league and have a legitimate minor league system. The game is too big not to at this point.

There isn't tanking in MLB because the power of one individual player is much, much greater in basketball than it is in baseball.  In baseball the best starting pitcher still only plays one out of five games.  The best offensive player in the world is one up one out of nine times.  But in basketball, they are on the court for 90% of the game.

[JSD]

At this point, by far the best thing for the NBA to do would be to eliminate all age restrictions.

Under these terms, a player like Wiggins would have been drafted as a project when he was 13 years old and the draft lottery would be a lot less of a sure bet, which would result in little incentive to tank. On top of that, these no longer exploited young athletes could begin making money and getting a good education at a young age. NBA High School, coming to a city near you.

Think MLB. Hardly is tanking even part of the discussion. It is time we evolve as a league and have a legitimate minor league system. The game is too big not to at this point.

NBA is a superstar driven league.


MLB is not.  MLB is a team driven league.

My point was not about MLB so much as it was about lessening the value of the lottery draft. The MLB draft is a lot more of a crap shoot because players are typically years away from the majors when they're drafted. So how do we do that in the NBA? By eliminating age restrictions.

[SHAQATTACK]

8 to 80

blind crippled and gray


draft em all

[wdleehi]

At this point, by far the best thing for the NBA to do would be to eliminate all age restrictions.

Under these terms, a player like Wiggins would have been drafted as a project when he was 13 years old and the draft lottery would be a lot less of a sure bet, which would result in little incentive to tank. On top of that, these no longer exploited young athletes could begin making money and getting a good education at a young age. NBA High School, coming to a city near you.

Think MLB. Hardly is tanking even part of the discussion. It is time we evolve as a league and have a legitimate minor league system. The game is too big not to at this point.

NBA is a superstar driven league.


MLB is not.  MLB is a team driven league.

My point was not about MLB so much as it was about lessening the value of the lottery draft. The MLB draft is a lot more of a crap shoot because players are typically years away from the majors when they're drafted. So how do we do that in the NBA? By eliminating age restrictions.

MLB has a deep development league.


The NBA has those guy sitting on the bench, many become waste.



I rather the NFL model where the guy learn the game in college (or overseas for the guy who want to make money) and then after their third year out of high school they can be drafted by the NBA.


NBA get three years of scouting on guy that have three years of training at a high level.

[jay]

I know this would never happen, but it would take away tanking unless there was a clear cut number one player and two teams in that area were really bad. At least then, only two teams would tank. 

you could do it based on territories like they did in the old days.  Take the worst 16 records and try to draw them up in quadrants.  International players would be available for any team to draft. 

Midwest - available players to draft: Oladipo, Zeller, McLemore, Burke, Hardaway Jr.
8. Detroit
12. OKC
14. Minnesota
15. Milwaukee


Southeast - Noel, Caldwell-Pope, Larkin, Dieng, Plumlee
2. Orlando
4. Charlotte
6. New Orleans
16. Atlanta

West  - Bennett, Olynyk, Shabazz, Snell, Hill
5. Phoenix
7. Sacramento
9. Utah
10. Portland


East - Porter, Len, McCollom, Carter-Williams, Adams
1. Cleveland
3. Washington
11. Philly
13. Boston


That would help try to keep the top players in the part of the country they played in college.  It would also make them off limits to 75% of the teams in the top 16 so they couldnt pick them.  Drop the lottey all together and let the worst record pick first.  So Orlando had the worst record last year and they would have been stuck drafting Nerlens Noel or Caldwell-Pope.  Charlotte had the 2nd worst record and they would have had to pick from the same pool. 

Cleveland would have picked 3rd and wouldn't be able to get Bennett.  Phoenix would pick 4th and could have taken Bennett. 

It would all come down to how bad you are in the year a really good player comes from your 1/4th of the country.