Fixing the NBA Draft

[Joe Bagadonuts]

Something's got to be done. Tanking is ruining the league. This year is becoming a ridiculous race to the bottom. How can a league where a large percentage of the teams have incentive to sabotage themselves ever be healthy?

I've looked at the wheel proposal closely, but I just don't like it. The worst part is that it's a virtual guarantee that better players will come out in years that desirable teams are at the top than in years that less desirable teams are. Do you think that Wiggins and Parker would stay in college another year if Toronto and Minnesota had the first tow picks in 2014 and then LA and Atlanta had the first two picks in 2015? I'll bet they would strongly consider it.

How about this bizarre system. At the end of the season each team gets to vote the draft order for the next year, then all the votes are compiled and the draft order is determined by the consensus. Maybe additional weight is given to the record so that it's impossible to completely black ball a team, but it's also impossible to benefit from blatant tanking. Yeah, I see all sorts of potential problems with this, but I think the current system is hurting the league in a big way. It seems that the NFL is so much healthier because a much larger percentage of the teams go into each season with a legit shot at success.

What ideas do you have for an improved draft?

 

[BTP]

Did the same some months earlier in the Jazz board:
Haven't yet heard a better proposal than:
Make lottery super flat(Like no more than a 2% better chance between worst record and 14th record and between 14th and 22nd best record there's only a very slight difference in odds)
This leads to no incentive to miss playoffs. Supports good franchises, who know what they're doing by scouting good players(I'm sorry Cleveland). You make the lottery process 5 slots deep. Still ensures worst record to get 6th pick. 6th pick in most drafts still has really high value if you're good at scouting.
You introduce a hardcap(I didn't say that the last time) that stops teams from being able to extend multiple superstars and still have enough payroll left to fill the rest with quality players who are not 35 or older and desperate.

I also read multiple times that American football is a game that has more randomness than basketball, which would explain why more teams have a shot to win the bowl.(Shorter season, bigger lineups, less dependent on a single player)

 

[Harambe]

Something's got to be done. Tanking is ruining the league. This year is becoming a ridiculous race to the bottom. How can a league where a large percentage of the teams have incentive to sabotage themselves ever be healthy?

I've looked at the wheel proposal closely, but I just don't like it. The worst part is that it's a virtual guarantee that better players will come out in years that desirable teams are at the top than in years that less desirable teams are. Do you think that Wiggins and Parker would stay in college another year if Toronto and Minnesota had the first tow picks in 2014 and then LA and Atlanta had the first two picks in 2015? I'll bet they would strongly consider it.

How about this bizarre system. At the end of the season each team gets to vote the draft order for the next year, then all the votes are compiled and the draft order is determined by the consensus. Maybe additional weight is given to the record so that it's impossible to completely black ball a team, but it's also impossible to benefit from blatant tanking. Yeah, I see all sorts of potential problems with this, but I think the current system is hurting the league in a big way. It seems that the NFL is so much healthier because a much larger percentage of the teams go into each season with a legit shot at success.

What ideas do you have for an improved draft?

It's unfair to compare a game with teams of 80 to a game with teams with a max of 15.

Fix the draft? Hard cap.

 

[mellow]

Hmm, I thought the NBA draft had been 'fixed' for years.