Draft lottery reforms coming as soon as next year

[Clench123]

I love the race the bottom.  Remind me of that southpark episode where southpark baseball team is refusing to win and doing everything the can to lose.

But i agree that the system needs to change.  Cavs getting the lottery pick 3 yrs in a row is a joke.  So is Phily losing games on purpose.

[BitterJim]

The probabilities should be based on your record over a couple of years (so, a team that won 50 games one year and 10 the next would have the same odds as a team that won 30 in both seasons).  That way good teams that have their best player injured could be separated from those that are truly bad, and teams that want to tank would have to do so for a longer period of time, making it much more of a financial risk.

There's always the risk of teams doing hat the sixers re doing and being consistently bad for  few years, but after a year of tanking without even getting a chance at a good pick, fans would be less forgiving.

[Robb]

I love the race the bottom.  Remind me of that southpark episode where southpark baseball team is refusing to win and doing everything the can to lose.

BAT DAD!

[GreenWarrior]

this current proposal just seems like more of the same nonsense dressed in a different suit - a Band-Aid.

my favorite solution thus far is putting the teams out of the playoffs in a tournament to decide seeding. possibly a round robin style.

it's not the greatest idea but it will force a team to actually earn their draft pick, not left up to luck of the draw and not accumulate losses.

[Celtics4ever]

my favorite solution thus far is putting the teams out of the playoffs in a tournament to decide seeding. possibly a round robin style.   it's not the greatest idea but it will force a team to actually earn their draft pick, not left up to luck of the draw and not accumulate losses.

Do you really think guys will bust their butts for their team to get their replacement?   I have some beachfront property on Jupiter if your that naive, that I will sell you on the cheap...

[celticslove]

how bout giving the higher odds for top pick to the 9th seeded team?

[GreenWarrior]

my favorite solution thus far is putting the teams out of the playoffs in a tournament to decide seeding. possibly a round robin style.   it's not the greatest idea but it will force a team to actually earn their draft pick, not left up to luck of the draw and not accumulate losses.

Do you really think guys will bust their butts for their team to get their replacement?   I have some beachfront property on Jupiter if your that naive, that I will sell you on the cheap...

like I said "not the best solution". but I do think it's the best suggestion so far. the NBA gets more games to sell and while this is out of my realm of knowledge I believe it would equal more revenue with more games. which is something the league is always looking for.

plus someone has to win. if a team is just going through the motions and not "busting their butts". does that team really deserve a chance at a player like Duncan, Jordan, kobe or LeBron?   

[Celtics4ever]

Whatever they do they should do it in public.

[Mencius]

growing to like the idea I proposed for changing the draft more and more
- put a 3-year moratorium on a team that gets the top pick from getting a top 3 pick again
- put a 1-year moratorium on a team that gets the 2nd or 3rd pick in the lottery.
[...]

Yours is a good idea, slam.  It's all about the cost/benefit of doing it.  I think that your idea, combined with the new more level odds that the NBA is proposing would really move the needle on some of the tanking we see, and perhaps to even add to your idea, and the new more level odds, the idea of financial benefit to teams making the playoffs, some revenue sharing that non-playoff teams would miss out on.  When the cost of tanking starts approaching (or exceeding) the benefit, teams will stop doing it.

[Ogaju]

how about a rule saying you cant have the number 1 pick two years in a row.  if you were to win the lottery again you get assigned the #5 pick and the previous 4 teams move up a spot.

This.

[Mr October]

Whatever they do they should do it in public.

They record and release the ping pong process after every draft now, and there is a representative from every team watching the process live.

I watched one of those videos and it is terribly boring. It would make for terrible television.

[GreenWarrior]

growing to like the idea I proposed for changing the draft more and more
- put a 3-year moratorium on a team that gets the top pick from getting a top 3 pick again
- put a 1-year moratorium on a team that gets the 2nd or 3rd pick in the lottery.

for example, let's assume the next 3 years all the same teams are back in the lottery for arguments sake (just for simplicity and the thought that Lebron misses the playoffs is just a side bonus   ) 
--Next Year: Cleveland, Milwaukee and Philly would all be held out of the lottery draw with only the 11 remaining teams eligible.  odds for the drawing are recalculated based on a TBD formula. 
For argument's sake, we'll say the top 3 picks are Celtics (yay), Orlando and Utah.
--Year 2: Celtics, Orlando, Utah and Cleveland are held out.  the other 10 teams are eligible including Milwaukee and Philly after their 1 year ban.  odds are again recalculated. For argument's sake, we'll say the winners are Milwaukee, Detroit and Philly.
--Year 3: Celtics, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit and Philly are all held out.  9 teams are eligible.  odds are recalculated.
and so on.

prevents teams from being rewarded repeatedly year after year with top picks for not making the playoffs.  allows other teams to acquire good young talent.

this idea seems more reactionary to what has happened recently, with Cleveland winning the lottery repeatedly. while it sucks to the point it makes you think it's all fixed, the chances it happening were unique.

the lottery is a joke. it has not accomplished it's goal of deterring teams from losing on purpose. and it does nothing for teams that might actually just be bad as they might not get a pick they deserve, while giving a team that doesn't deserve it a top pick in the process.

maybe there is no ultimate solution, maybe no one can see it yet. but I do think the solution I mentioned a few posts ago at least makes a team earn their seeding.

[Ogaju]

They're trying to stop tanking. Something tells me silver isn't very happy about Philly getting rewarded with hakeem for losing on purpose.

this is good for us because we weren't going to be any worse than last year. At least I dont think so.

I wonder if LeBron would have gone back to Cleveland had they not landed Wiggins.   Cavs landing the #1 pick 3 out of 4 years is pretty crazy.   That little Gilbert kid is a human leprechaun.

let the conspiracy theories begin

Coincidences actually do happen.  There is no way I will ever believe that the NBA lottery is fixed.  Given how they do it, the number of observers, and given that the risk of trying to fix the lottery so far outweighs the gain, it just wouldn't be worth it.   If Silver (or Stern) was ever caught conspiring to perpetrate this type of fraud, I am certain that losing his job would be the least of his worries.

Observers? Why don't they just do it in public. Where everyone can see?

[Ogaju]

my favorite solution thus far is putting the teams out of the playoffs in a tournament to decide seeding. possibly a round robin style.   it's not the greatest idea but it will force a team to actually earn their draft pick, not left up to luck of the draw and not accumulate losses.

Do you really think guys will bust their butts for their team to get their replacement?   I have some beachfront property on Jupiter if your that naive, that I will sell you on the cheap...

like I said "not the best solution". but I do think it's the best suggestion so far. the NBA gets more games to sell and while this is out of my realm of knowledge I believe it would equal more revenue with more games. which is something the league is always looking for.

plus someone has to win. if a team is just going through the motions and not "busting their butts". does that team really deserve a chance at a player like Duncan, Jordan, kobe or LeBron?

I believe what he is saying is that players will TANK these games too because they either do not like the top prospect or they do not want to help their team win the lottery so they can be replaced

[Celtics4ever]

Yes, what I was saying exactly.

I watched one of those videos and it is terribly boring. It would make for terrible television.

So is Summer League and I still watch it.