If this was in place 3 yrs ago

Blazers
Hornets
Grizzlies
Knicks
76ers
Pacers

Would have had the best odds for the top 6 picks. For a shot at: K.Irving, D.Williams, E.Kanter, T.Thompson, J.Valanciunas, B.Knight, K.Walker, K.Thompson. With the right choice all 6 of these teams would become contenders for seasons going forward.

If this was in place 2 yrs ago

Nuggets
Magic
Knicks
Mavs
Jazz
76ers

Would have had the best odds for the top 6 picks. For a shot at: A.Davis, D.Lillard, A.Drummond, MK.Gilchrist, B.Beal, D.Waiters, H.Barnes, T.Robinson. Nuggets, Knicks, Philly, Mavs would possibly be contenders for seasons going forward.

If this was last season

Warriors
Lakers
Rockets
Hawks
Celtics
Bucks

Would have had the best odds for the top 6 picks. For a shot at: V.Olapido, N.Noel, O.Porter, C.Zeller, B.Mclemore, MC.Williams, T.Burke, S.Adams, A.Len. Warriors, Rockets, Hawks would possibly be contenders for seasons going forward.

The way it is now teams need to suck probably for multiple seasons, then maybe there draft picks can make them mediocre. Then usually come to a stop and look to rebuild it again. This way the more teams will be able to reach the next level. Superstars like Garnett would have had access to better talent after carrying his team to the playoffs yr after yr due to his skills but lack of supporting cast to go further.

Sambakick wrote:I agree something must change. How about the team with the best record to miss the playoffs gets the most ping pong balls. Team with the worst record gets the fewest.

This will eliminate tanking once and for all.

Occasionally you might see a team try to slide out of the 8th seed to land out of the playoffs, but they'd be sacrificing all that playoff money and get a lot of bad publicity.

edit: i would say is bad publicity that critical though? not sure the $ is a factor either. getting maybe 2 home games vs maybe sliding into a top pick that could help out, which is better long term? there will be no easy way to fix this since nba teams need top talent to win compared to other pro leagues -- that is, you can have the mvp in nhl, mlb, nfl and still not win, or even get close. that really doesnt happen too much in the nba.

newyorknewyork wrote:The teams with the best record should get the better odds, starting from the 6th seed. Don't know the exact numbers but the 6th-8th seeds rarely ever get out of the first round and end up with mid round picks that rarely push there team to the next level. IMO this would create more NBA contenders, and a higher level of competition throughout the NBA. Teams rely to much on tearing everything down and starting from scratch. This will force teams to actually field competitive teams to add there lotto picks to. The top talent in the draft will be looked upon to maybe push the team over the top rather then save its ass. The top picks will most likely be put in a competitive playoff atmospheres from the beginning and most likely won't be asked to be everything for the team.

If this was in place 3 yrs ago

Blazers
Hornets
Grizzlies
Knicks
76ers
Pacers

Would have had the best odds for the top 6 picks. For a shot at: K.Irving, D.Williams, E.Kanter, T.Thompson, J.Valanciunas, B.Knight, K.Walker, K.Thompson. With the right choice all 6 of these teams would become contenders for seasons going forward.

If this was in place 2 yrs ago

Nuggets
Magic
Knicks
Mavs
Jazz
76ers

Would have had the best odds for the top 6 picks. For a shot at: A.Davis, D.Lillard, A.Drummond, MK.Gilchrist, B.Beal, D.Waiters, H.Barnes, T.Robinson. Nuggets, Knicks, Philly, Mavs would possibly be contenders for seasons going forward.

If this was last season

Warriors
Lakers
Rockets
Hawks
Celtics
Bucks

Would have had the best odds for the top 6 picks. For a shot at: V.Olapido, N.Noel, O.Porter, C.Zeller, B.Mclemore, MC.Williams, T.Burke, S.Adams, A.Len. Warriors, Rockets, Hawks would possibly be contenders for seasons going forward.

The way it is now teams need to suck probably for multiple seasons, then maybe there draft picks can make them mediocre. Then usually come to a stop and look to rebuild it again. This way the more teams will be able to reach the next level. Superstars like Garnett would have had access to better talent after carrying his team to the playoffs yr after yr due to his skills but lack of supporting cast to go further.

This is a good idea

Owners like re-building rookies contracts allow them to make more money, see the old LA Clippers strategy of getting good high picks and in the contract year let them walk and start the proces all over again.

IronWillGiroud wrote:The best thing to do is toss all the non-playoffs teams into a bucket and pick them randomly

immediately eliminates tanking

Why punish the teams that do well they should be in the lottery too.

Vmart wrote:I think that all the teams should be in the lottery. Team with the worst record getting the most balls 30, next team 29 all the way down with the best team getting 1 ball. Drop them into a bin. And reverse order them. All the way to number one pick.

that wouldn't work. you gotta start with the #1pick. then it would take forever to remove the duplicate balls.

IronWillGiroud wrote:

Vmart wrote:

IronWillGiroud wrote:The best thing to do is toss all the non-playoffs teams into a bucket and pick them randomly

immediately eliminates tanking

Why punish the teams that do well they should be in the lottery too.

**** it, you're right,

just throw all the balls in whatever happens happens; immediately there is no tanking!!!!

tanking for picks is really one of the biggest flaws in today's game

Imagine teams with good records get top picks. There will be player movement and teams that don't need rookies trade them away. Or it throws the balance of the good team off. Parity increases.