Artie is right. I wasn't saying make every team a lotto team. Every year there are 1 or 2 teams in the lotto that are above .500. Why not reward them for at least trying?
I've always said the NBA should have a point system like the NCAA where by.. when you officially out of playoff contention you should be awarded extra ping pong balls... more wins.. or how hard you play against playoff teams should equal better chances at the lottery.. and the lottery should only be allowed for the top 5 worst teams... and the rest by record After playoff contention..
Never tank. Never. These guys are getting paid millions, and people are paying hard earned money to watch them play. Anybody involved in all that who isn't trying because they hope they might get over on an imperfect draft system should be traded or fired.
The current lottery system does not create parity. Instead, it creates the situation that we have now. We have talented young players being drafted into terrible situations and being kept there under the rookie contract rules and due to the incentives of restricted free agency (the one way to escapte restriction is to take a qualifying offer, which is against the economic interest of the player if he is a star). In the mean time, the system makes it less likely for his team to acquire more top talent to put it over the top. First, if the player was drafted into a team with a horrible record, it is likely that the team's owner and front office are crappy. Second, if the star player is really good, he'll carry that team to at least a respectable record, making it less likely for them to have another top pick to use to build a contender. So, we end up with a top talent often trapped in teams that are only respectable because of that top talent and looking to create what his front office have not been able to create. This is how we end up with the Miami Heat, the Melo situation, the Chris Paul situation, and the Deron Williams trade. The lotto system we have now does not create parity in a meaningful way. It makes it somewhat easy for a bottom team to bounce into mediocrity. But that's not true "partiy" becuase these teams still have little chance of reaching the top. The system make it very hard for any team who isn't exceptionally lucky to build an elite level squad through competent management. It makes for a situation, such as the one we have now, in which, over the period of 5-6 years, there are only a handful of teams who have the talent to compete for a championship even though there may be a rotating cast of 40-50 win squads. You need a system in which an already decent 40-50 win team has a meaningful opportunity to add top talent that take it over the top, not one in which Lebron James, had he not left for Miamai, is continually trapped on a squad where his teammates wouldn't win 25 games a season without him.
If you want our team to tank to get a good pick in the draft then gtfo of this forum. You are not a Rockets fan.
I'm hoping this is the case. Morey has said a hard cap with no other rules is the system he would prefer. You want a system where the primary determination of success over time is how well run the team is. Obviously factors like big markets can't be dismissed, but the system should try to limit their impact. As CH said, right now oftentimes the best players go to the worst run teams. So they become temporarily mediocre in spite of being poorly run, and the player's talents are wasted there.
The problem is that being mediocre for 5+ seasons isn't any better. Look at the Pacers, a once proud franchise that had a college like atmosphere...look at them now. When people mean tank they don't mean for the players to go out and lose, they mean for the team to get rid of most of the players keeping the team afloat. For example for the Pacers doing this would be getting rid of Granger just for cap space.
I think this works out the best though. Just make it so all non-playoff teams have equal shot. That way at least there is no benefit from losing games. Right now there is, no matter how much you Rah rah guys don't think so there simply is. If Lebron James two was coming into the 2011 draft you're telling me you'd rather squeak in as the 8th seed than have the next big superstar on your team for at least the next 3-4 years?
But that''s the problem. In the final week or so, for that reason, you would have teams actively trying to lose games to get out of the playoffs, which I honestly don't think happens right now - the Puppies aren't tanking, they're just bad. That would be embarassing to the NBA as a whole.
Not teams a game or two out of the playoffs, I don't believe that. Most players are too prideful and most coaches also. Plus owners would want the extra revenue for playoff games. I don't think if you make it so it's a open lottery that teams near the end that are like a game or two out will just start dropping games. Look at the NFL, since there is only 16 games losing the last game could mean moving up 4-5 spots but you still don't see teams losing games on purpose. The Seahawks were in this position and the Texans could be drafting 8th or 7th had they lost the last game.
And no matter how many times we point this out, there is always some special needs poster who carelessly tosses out that accusation, anyway.
