NBA revamps draft lottery to address tanking – NBC Sports

The NBA has a tanking problem. (It also has a flopping problem but, you know, baby steps.)
On Thursday, the NBA’s board of governors voted to revamp the draft lottery in an effort to disincentive deliberately losing games.
The new approach, effective next year, expands the lottery from 14 to 16 teams. More importantly, the teams with the three worst records in the league will get two balls in the lottery hopper; the teams finishing with the fourth through 10th worst records will get three balls. That alone eliminates the incentive to be among the three worst teams in the NBA.
But it doesn’t remove incentives to lose. The difference between the 11th worst record and the 10th worst record becomes significant. As the season is coming to an end, the 10th worst team will want to hold that spot.
Under the new approach to the lottery, teams won’t be able to have the top pick in back-to-back years, or to be in the top five for three straight years.
The new system runs from 2027 through 2029.
The measure passed by a vote of 29-1, with only the Memphis Grizzlies voting against it. Coincidentally, or not, the Grizzlies hold the 2027 first-round pick of the Utah Jazz. Under the new approach, that pick can’t be any higher than No. 6.
Overall, it’s better than the old approach. There’s no longer a reason to try to be among the three worst teams in the league. And it sets up a late-season race for the fourth-worst spot, which becomes the difference between having two balls and three.
The best way to remove any and all incentive to lose games would be to give all teams the same chance at getting the top pick, and so on. The next best approach would be to give all non-playoff teams an equal shot at the top pick — assuming that a fringe playoff team wouldn’t sacrifice a shot at the postseason for a chance at getting the best player in the incoming class of rookies.
Is this relevant to the NFL? Yes, and no. For now, the NFL has managed to ignore the reality that there is a clear temptation for non-playoff teams to not try to win late-season games. That temptation will become pronounced as the regular season inevitably grows.
But the NFL won’t acknowledge the connection between letting a bad season run its course and securing a higher spot in the draft. Even with multiple blatant examples of late-season tanking in recent years, the NFL has managed to avoid it from becoming a point of emphasis for fans, media, and those who place bets based on the assumption that every team is trying its best to win every game.
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