Draft Lottery

The ping pong balls are supposed to be keeping teams from tanking for the first pick. It is a complete failure, teams are tanking every year and not being shy about it. Why not get rid of the lottery and just draft or at least come up with something better?

The ping pong balls are supposed to be keeping teams from tanking for the first pick. It is a complete failure, teams are tanking every year and not being shy about it. Why not get rid of the lottery and just draft or at least come up with something better?

I'd be in favor of it. In the NBA, it seems like there are a handful of teams intentionally trying to lose and it really hurts the product. In the NFL, there aren't as many of those teams, and all the games are usually at one time (with those teams typically being absent from the unique timeslots), so it doesn't hurt the product as much [or if for no other reason, there's a more exclusive amount of NFL games].

Something kicked around awhile back was a draft wheel. Each team gets in one of say 5-6 tiers of picks each year. Roughly every 5-6 years, you'll have one of the top 5, top 10, top 15, top 20, top 25, and top 30 picks, regardless of what your record is. That definitely sounds more interesting for records (from a competitive balance standpoint) in any given year. If your pick is set, you don't have incentive to lose. There are problems with that setup (i.e., loaded teams like the Warriors being in the top 5-6 picks in a given year), but it's at least fair in that it effects everyone equally.

The NBA?s Possible Solution for Tanking: Good-bye to the Lottery, Hello to the Wheel «

Here's the solution I mentioned above, courtesy of Grantland.

The tanking doesn't bother me one bit, but then I'm also never going to have season tickets for any professional team.

If your team is tanking and you don't like it, don't support them with your hard earned money.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2432215-nba-draft-lottery-2015-projected-order-and-odds-for-every-team-involved

[TABLE]

[TR=class: odd header]

[TD]Pick[/TD]

[TD]Team[/TD]

[TD]Odds of Landing No. 1 Pick[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: even]

[TD]1[/TD]

[TD]Minnesota Timberwolves[/TD]

[TD]25 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: odd]

[TD]2[/TD]

[TD]New York Knicks[/TD]

[TD]19.9 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: even]

[TD]3[/TD]

[TD]Philadelphia 76ers[/TD]

[TD]15.6 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: odd]

[TD]4[/TD]

[TD]Los Angeles Lakers[/TD]

[TD]11.9 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: even]

[TD]5[/TD]

[TD]Orlando Magic[/TD]

[TD]8.8 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: odd]

[TD]6[/TD]

[TD]Sacramento Kings[/TD]

[TD]6.3 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: even]

[TD]7[/TD]

[TD]Denver Nuggets[/TD]

[TD]4.3 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: odd]

[TD]8[/TD]

[TD]Detroit Pistons[/TD]

[TD]2.8 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: even]

[TD]9[/TD]

[TD]Charlotte Hornets[/TD]

[TD]1.7 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: odd]

[TD]10[/TD]

[TD]Miami Heat[/TD]

[TD]1.1 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: even]

[TD]11[/TD]

[TD]Indiana Pacers*[/TD]

[TD]0.8 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: odd]

[TD]12[/TD]

[TD]Utah Jazz*[/TD]

[TD]0.7 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: even]

[TD]13[/TD]

[TD]Phoenix Suns[/TD]

[TD]0.6 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR=class: odd]

[TD]14[/TD]

[TD]Oklahoma City Thunder[/TD]

[TD]0.5 Percent[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]