As was first reported last week, the NBA is looking into lottery reform yet again to discourage tanking and help prevent the same team from getting a top three pick in consecutive seasons.
While the first proposal was to flat out deny teams from having a top three pick two years in a row, the most current proposal according to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt is not as extreme and therefore has a higher chance of passing at the upcoming NBA owners meetings.
“The three highest lottery seeds would each be allocated 14% odds to win the lottery, compared to the 25%, 19.9% and 15.6% for those three teams in the current lottery system, which has been in place since 2005. The odds for the remaining lottery would decrease smoothly, with approximately a 1%-2% difference between lottery teams.
The new system would begin with the 2019 draft, giving teams time to prepare and plan.”
I think this would be a step in the right direction to discourage tanking and allow teams who are attempting to win to have a better chance to land a top pick as a reward, but I personally am a fan of more extreme reform if the league truly wants to curb the tanking epidemic that has become less veiled by the year.
2019 still might be too soon for the owners comfort as teams are already planning for this draft and their strategy to improve their roster based on the current lottery system in place.
While it would never happen, some sort of tournament in Las Vegas for the No. 1 pick late in the season would be a really fun idea and have the intended result of all but eliminating tanking.
I hope you’re reading Adam Silver…
