Report: NBA Draft Lottery Reform Is On The Horizon
(CBS) The NBA submitted an official proposal to reform the draft lottery at this week's competition committee meetings in Las Vegas that would discourage tanking by drastically evening out the chances of the worst teams to win the No. 1 pick, Grantland.com's Zach Lowe reported Wednesday afternoon.
While the proposal itself is still subject to change -- even before it'd come to a vote -- the proposal being floated now is for the four worst teams to each have around an 11 percent chance of winning the top pick, while the fifth-worst team would have about a 10 percent chance, Lowe reported. The chances for each team would decrease from there, with the lottery team with the best record having around a 2 percent chance to nab the top pick, Lowe wrote.
Currently, the team with the worst record has a 25 percent chance at the top pick, the second-worst team has a 19.9 percent chance and the third-worst team has a 15.6 percent chance.
In another twist, the proposal calls for drawing the first six picks from the Ping-Pong ball lottery, Grantland reported. Currently, only the top three selections are drawn, and the rest of the spots go in order from the worst record to the best. For example, the team with the worst record currently can't receive a pick lower than fourth overall.
The new system could take effect as early as next season, but there are "many hurdles to overcome before then," Lowe wrote.
The goal of this system would to prevent tanking, which teams like last season's 76ers have done in recent years to earn a better draft pick.
