The only fair system changes nothing about the lottery, and everything about when player rights' can be drafted.
Eliminate the age restrictions on drafting players and tanking will be as frequent as we see it in baseball. We'll also get an incredible minor league out of the deal, I bet.
I partially agree. Often in baseball, even the best rookies don't get to the majors until 24+. It is really hard to forecast baseball. Look at the outcomes of players in the first round. Much more erratic than basketball. Baseball requires a lot more technical training.
In basketball, there are only 2 rounds and there are very rarely all-stars that come from the ranks of undrafted. There aren't even that many 2nd round all stars. Beyond that, no player in baseball has the impact of Lebron, Durant, Duncan or Kobe. Not even Barry Bonds. Star basketball players are on the floor for about 80% of the game. Pitchers are on the mound less than 20% of the time. Hitters around 10% of the time. Think of the impact of Lebron going to a team. Nothing is like that in baseball.
Yet, I agree that allowing guys to get drafted at 16, like MLB, would change things a lot. There would have to be a minor leagues and there would be more risk taking as the top talents would get drafted in a far less finished state. It would also lead to the problem of teams stockpiling top 16 year-olds, being horrible like Philly while keeping those players in the minors, and then calling them up all at once. By increasing the draft age, players are farther along their development curves, have a better chance of starting their prime on their drafting team, and have more developed frontal lobes (which helps with general decision making in life). When teams are more confident that someone is a transcendent talent, horrible teams are more likely to do whatever it takes to increase their odds of acquiring them.