A crazy way to fix tanking in the NBA

[UCFJayBird]

Just give every team the same chance of winning the top pick. Problem solved.

That defeats the purpose of the lottery in the 1st place, which is to help the worst teams get better. If everyone has the same odds the worst team in the league could be in the cellars for years, which is awful for that fan base and that organization and will be detrimental to the league in the long run. Sure, it gets rid of tanking, but the result is far worse.

So the alternative is to get rid of the lottery and adopt the NFL draft system. That way the worst team does get the top pick.

That encourages tanking even more. You want a system that helps the worst teams get better to provide parity. But you don't want a system that encourages teams being worse than they really are to game the system and get a better pick.

Perhaps change the lottery so that it isn't just the first 3 picks decided by chance, but rather the entire lottery. This might encourage a borderline playoff team to tank at the last second to miss the playoffs and have a shot at a higher pick, so also change it so that the lottery isn't every team that doesn't make the playoffs, perhaps just the Top 10. That way Teams 11-20 or so are still trying for the playoffs and not tanking at the last second. It also encourages Teams 21-30 to not tank, because the odds of getting a Top 3 pick aren't as great as the current format.

Like you said, no system is perfect. Doesn't mean it can't be better, but I think we have to remember the goal is to help bad teams get better and provide parity but discourage tanking for the sake of a higher pick.

[NBAchamps2017]

NBA 'must' fix the tanking in 2020.

[andrewds]

The best way is for all non playoff teams to have a lottery with an equal chance of picks 1 through to 14. Therefore all teams will play every game to win.

[MagicStarwipe]

The best system is already in place. There are going to be flaws with any system.

[UCFJayBird]

The best way is for all non playoff teams to have a lottery with an equal chance of picks 1 through to 14. Therefore all teams will play every game to win.

Not really, this encourages teams that are actually playoff teams to miss on purpose for a shot at a #1 pick. Imagine the 6-8 seeds trying to miss the playoffs in hopes of getting a #1 pick. After all, they're not going to win the championships, might as well miss the playoffs and get a great player to vault them ahead of the teams that did make the playoffs.

[UCF]

Give all non-playoff team equal odds to win the lottery. It would eliminate the race to the very bottom.

[npiper17]

We already have teams who have been in the cellar for years. Sacramento. Orlando. Philly. When will Brooklyn be good again? It wouldn't be any worse than what we are doing. The worst team still picks 4th at worst. There just wouldn't be an incentive anymore to lose games.

Teams are bad because they are poorly run

Not always the case - luck plays into things a lot. Many thought the Magic were well run before Dwight left town and look what happened.

Ryan McDonough considered a good GM in Phoenix and they've been languishing since forever.

Orlando has languished since then because we were poorly run.

Doesn't address the point I made.

[AshBlackstone]

Not always the case - luck plays into things a lot. Many thought the Magic were well run before Dwight left town and look what happened.

Ryan McDonough considered a good GM in Phoenix and they've been languishing since forever.

Orlando has languished since then because we were poorly run.

Doesn't address the point I made.

Sure it does. Orlando and Phoenix were poorly run. It's 90 percent how you run the team, 10 percent luck. Hennigan for example, wasn't unlucky. He's a terrible GM.

[drsd]

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[drsd]

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[drsd]

The NBA brass themselves seems to prefer "The Wheel".

I favour the idea that the top-7 teams per conference make the playoffs and the bottom 8 teams per conference have a single-game elimination tourney to determine the 8th seed. This means mediocre and bad teams must value every game: all 82.
The draft lottery itself is thusly less affected by Tanking.

(this does not solve elite teams "resting" players in the final 4 games of the season, but that is less of an optics problem for the league).



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[pepe1991]

Even odds for winning 1# pick for all teams in lottery. So it won't matter if you missed playoffs with 39-43 record or 10-72. Honestlly post allstar regular season this year was unwatchable. Half of teams running around with backups of backups.

[UCF]

The best way is for all non playoff teams to have a lottery with an equal chance of picks 1 through to 14. Therefore all teams will play every game to win.

Not really, this encourages teams that are actually playoff teams to miss on purpose for a shot at a #1 pick. Imagine the 6-8 seeds trying to miss the playoffs in hopes of getting a #1 pick. After all, they're not going to win the championships, might as well miss the playoffs and get a great player to vault them ahead of the teams that did make the playoffs.

But it also doesn't encourage the bottom 10 teams to suck as a bad as possible for an extra few % chance.

[BadMofoPimp]

I would rather make it so teams cannot have a top 5 or up to top 10 pick 2 years in a row. That way teams have little incentive to tank long term.

[UCFJayBird]

The best way is for all non playoff teams to have a lottery with an equal chance of picks 1 through to 14. Therefore all teams will play every game to win.

Not really, this encourages teams that are actually playoff teams to miss on purpose for a shot at a #1 pick. Imagine the 6-8 seeds trying to miss the playoffs in hopes of getting a #1 pick. After all, they're not going to win the championships, might as well miss the playoffs and get a great player to vault them ahead of the teams that did make the playoffs.

But it also doesn't encourage the bottom 10 teams to suck as a bad as possible for an extra few % chance.

Yes, but it also relegates the worst teams in the league to have the same odds as the teams that just miss the playoffs. I cannot see the logic behind supporting a system that says a 40 win team that just missed the playoffs has the same odds of getting the #1 pick as the team that won 20, 25, 30 games.

[Nemesis21]

I would rather make it so teams cannot have a top 5 or up to top 10 pick 2 years in a row. That way teams have little incentive to tank long term.

Hmm like LA having the #2 pick three years in a row, the Cavs gifted 3 #1 picks in 4 years.

[npiper17]

Orlando has languished since then because we were poorly run.

Doesn't address the point I made.

Sure it does. Orlando and Phoenix were poorly run. It's 90 percent how you run the team, 10 percent luck. Hennigan for example, wasn't unlucky. He's a terrible GM.

I think you're wrong on the percentages. A team isn't necessarily poorly run because it doesn't make the playoffs - Minnesota recently is another example. I'd be surprised if anyone describes them as poorly run and they haven't made the playoffs since forever.

[BadMofoPimp]

I would rather make it so teams cannot have a top 5 or up to top 10 pick 2 years in a row. That way teams have little incentive to tank long term.

Hmm like LA having the #2 pick three years in a row, the Cavs gifted 3 #1 picks in 4 years.

Just off the top of my head, lol.

[KingRobb02]

How to fix tanking:

Option A - Get rid of the draft

Option B - Remove the weighting and make it completely random.

Done

The idea of a tournament is kind of backwards for a few reasons.
1) This is these guys jobs and you are essentially asking them to do more work for free. Sure BRI would increase, but I don't think the loser's bracket will garner much interest. Basically look at the NIT.
2) Sometimes teams are just bad. In a tournament like this, there is no real hope for bad teams like ours who would be expected to match up with legitimately average teams.
3) Single elimination tournaments aren't really fair.

[KingRobb02]

What is America's fascination with parity? The league always does better when there is clear dominance at the top.