With the idea of tanking to a #1 pick having met a climax last season in a loaded draft class, the NBA knew a change must be made. On Friday morning, Grantland’s Zach Lowe tweeted about a memo sent out to league owners about proposed changes to the draft lottery:
League sources: NBA sent memo today indicating 30 teams could vote on slightly revised lottery reform proposal at Bd of Gov later this month
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 3, 2014
Tweaks include decreasing odds just a bit for lotto teams with the best records, sources say. Lottery would draw top-6 picks, up from top-3
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 3, 2014
Proposal details: four worst teams would have equal 12 percent chance to win No. 1 pick. Worst team could fall no lower than No 7.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 3, 2014
Four teams w/ best record would have, in order, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2.5% chance at No. 1 pick and better chance than today of moving into top-6
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 3, 2014
.@PistonPowered Proposed dds of No. 1 pick for teams 7-10: 8.5%, 7%, 5.5 %, 4%. All have 13%-plus shot at top-3.
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) October 3, 2014
Lowe would go on to state that he expects this to pass with little resistance. He also revealed a league-wide disapproval of the current plan the Philadelphia 76ers are going through, which has seen them tank for multiple years in a row while also collecting a host of draft picks in hopes of building a roster entirely of drafted players. It’s hard to fault the 76ers, though, for simply following the rules and exploiting a certain aspect said rules.
For the Lakers, this would be good news. With many projecting the Lakers to be a bottom-feeder team again this year and find themselves in the draft lottery, it’s good news to see an improved chance at a top pick, moreso due to the fact that their first round pick this year would belong to the Suns if it falls outside of the top five. This means the Lakers’ chances of retaining their pick, should they fall into the draft lottery, would rise as opposed to the current format.
This would also lessen the likelihood of teams tanking to a certain degree. No longer would they be significantly better incentivized to finish with the worst record as opposed to the second worst record.
Do you like the idea of changing up the draft lottery? Let us know down below!