Your reaction if Lakers move up in the draft lottery? (Poll)

[Greyhound]

If the NBA lottery was rigged, LA would have gotten the first pick in one of the 4 years they were in the bottom 7. HINT: They didn't.

Are people seriously just waiting for the year the Lakers do eventually move up just to scream rigged? That's pretty lame.

What he (and those like him) wants is for the league to rig the lottery so the Lakers cannot unexpectedly move up.

A probability at or around 0.00% would be ideal.

This way he (and those like him) can feel secure that the league is “not” rigged.

[kuclas]

If the NBA lottery was rigged, LA would have gotten the first pick in one of the 4 years they were in the bottom 7. HINT: They didn't.

Are people seriously just waiting for the year the Lakers do eventually move up just to scream rigged? That's pretty lame.

The sixers had the lakers top 3 protected number 1 pick three years in a row. 2015,2016,2017

Lakers somehow jumped their projected draft position in 2015 and 2017 all the way to 2 overall.

What are the odds of that?

That’s why I wouldn’t be shocked if lakers ended up with number 2 overall pick even with the 11/12th best odds.

And I think nba rigged it for Cleveland giving them 3 number 1 picks in 4 years to make up for Lebron leaving Cleveland in 2010. Didn’t Cleveland jump from 8th best odds to get 2014 first pick? Cleveland also jumped from 3rd best odds to get number 1 pick in 2014 as well.

[getitdone323]

If the NBA lottery was rigged, LA would have gotten the first pick in one of the 4 years they were in the bottom 7. HINT: They didn't.

Are people seriously just waiting for the year the Lakers do eventually move up just to scream rigged? That's pretty lame.

There is soooo much Lakers related real estate in people's head its amazing. Look at how many lakers related threads there are in the first 2 pages and no, not all were started by Lakers fans.

[The Laker Kid]

Hello.

Let's suppose the Lakers finish with the 12th worst record (as they stand now). Their odds would be 1.3% for the #1 pick, 1.4# for the #2 pick, 1.6 for the #3 pick and 1.8 for the #4 pick. Full odds at http://www.tankathon.com/pick_odds . EDIT: Correction, the odds would be 1.5, 1.7, 1.9 and 2.1.

How would you react if the Lakers won the #1 pick? How if they got one of the #2, #3 or #4 picks? Would it cause you to (further?) question the integrity of the NBA, to consider that the NBA is in some way rigged?

We know that the lottery process itself is audited by Ernst & Young, a very famous & prestigious company, but not without its black marks, including some heavy fines and also some very loud rumours of helping cover up big transgressions (for example the Lehman Brothers collapse).

We have also had some very interesting results (Ewing to Knicks, Rose to Chicago, Lebron to Cleveland, AD to the Pelicans, Cleveland getting 3 #1 picks after Lebron leaving and rumours of him eventually returning etc.) that some see as arguments in favour of the theory that the lottery is, at least on occasion, rigged.

So, how would you react if the Lakers jumped ahead in the lottery just as they're looking at a summer where they hope they'll have enough enticing "trade assets" to get AD and/or to lure the best free agents to LA regardless of whether they trade for AD, with the looming danger that the NBA will suffer greatly marketing-wise etc. if another year of Lebron's last highly productive years gets wasted?

If they get #1/Zion, he might be enough for Lakers to not need to get AD + another star to contend in 2019-2020, instead just getting one big FA and retaining their young core alongside Zion, Lebron and the FA star. If they get a 2-4 pick, that greatly improves their chances of trading for AD/otherwise improving.

Thanks for your replies!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA. IF THEY GET NO 1 ZION. HAHAHAHAHA. You Lakers fans are delusional

Welcome to RealGM, where non-Laker fans post terrible hypotheticals and other non-Laker fans pile in, fully convinced the OP was a Laker fan.

[kodo]

If the lottery is rigged, giving #1 to LAL would invite additional scrutiny from those outside the process. #2 for three years in a row than #1 to the same team certainly raises eyebrows.

Silver is smart, he wouldn’t be so obvious as that.

[druggas]

I hope the Lakers get Zion, AD, and Kawhi.

The world would end if that ever happened.

[DirtyDez]

If the lottery is rigged, giving #1 to LAL would invite additional scrutiny from those outside the process. #2 for three years in a row than #1 to the same team certainly raises eyebrows.

Silver is smart, he wouldn’t be so obvious as that.

Yep. If it were rigged they’d get #2 or #3 as another trade chip for AD.

[Satch]

Pretty far down the list of concerns...

[CycklopsGT]

Great poll. It's rare to see a poll on rgm where every reasonable option is presented among the choices.

Off the top of my head, I'd be rooting for Dallas, Atlanta, Memphis, or New Orleans to win Zion, in that order. I might change my mind on that in the next few months.

Holy crap if Dallas wins. Porzingis, Zion, Luka.

[kuclas]

If the lottery is rigged, giving #1 to LAL would invite additional scrutiny from those outside the process. #2 for three years in a row than #1 to the same team certainly raises eyebrows.

Silver is smart, he wouldn’t be so obvious as that.

3 straights years with the 2nd overall picks seems very suspicious to me. Especially since those picks were all top 3 lotto protected or else they would lose the pick. Lakers finished outside the top 3 bottom teams 2 out of 3 years. And they were never the worst team.

The public isn’t that dumb. Silver and the nba rigged the nba draft those 3 years. Subtle moves to give lakers 2nd overall picks so they wouldn’t lose the pick. Even improved their draft position both of those years.

[Johnny Bball]

Said this before... the worst thing that could happen to the NBA in the spring is the Lakers win a fair lottery. Nobody would believe it.

[ZemGOAT]

I would love to see that happen

But I'm rooting for the Mavs to pull the ultimate robbery

[MVP1992]

76ers deserve it. Karma

[LukaV]

Thanks for the replies so far, everyone!

Interesting results of the poll so far:

If they jump ahead, I'll be 100% sure that the NBA is rigged: 22 votes (26%)

If they jump ahead, I'll be fairly certain the NBA is rigged: 7 votes (8%)

If they jump ahead, I'll start to strongly doubt the NBA's integrity: 3 votes (4%)

If they jump ahead, it will somewhat add to my doubts of NBA's integrity: 9 votes (11%)

If they jump ahead, it will slightly add to/start my doubts of NBA's integrity: 1 vote (1%)

If they jump ahead, it won't affect my view on NBA's integrity: 8 votes (9%)

I'm already certain the NBA lottery is (at least sometimes) rigged: 23 votes (27%)

I'm already certain the NBA lottery is never rigged: 12 votes (14%)

Total votes: 85.

[NyKnicks1714]

I'm still waiting for someone to post a feasible way in which the draft lottery could actually be rigged.