NBA proposes three radical draft lottery overhauls to combat tanking
The NBA has presented three radical proposals to overhaul the draft lottery system to its board of governors in New York, aiming to eliminate strategic losing.
Modifications are expected for all three concepts before a formal vote takes place in May.
Each framework represents a significant departure from the current setup by bringing playoff-calibre teams into the lottery process.
Expanding the lottery field
The first concept involves 18 franchises, incorporating the bottom 10 teams alongside the eight play-in tournament qualifiers.
Under this model, the 10 worst performers would share an equal 8% chance of securing the top pick.
The remaining 20% of the odds would then be distributed among the eight play-in participants in descending order.
A two-season weighting system
A second proposal widens the field to 22 teams, introducing four franchises that suffer first-round postseason exits.
This framework would rank participants based on their combined record across two consecutive seasons, mirroring the existing WNBA system.
To mitigate the incentive to purposefully lose every game, the basketball association would introduce a minimum win total floor for calculating lottery odds.
For example, a franchise finishing a campaign with 14 wins would still be counted as having 20 victories if the seasonal floor was set at that mark.
The tiered drawing approach
The final option presented to the executives is a complex structure featuring multiple separate draws.
This method utilises the same 18 teams from the first proposal but guarantees the five worst records share identical top odds.
A secondary draw for the remaining 13 teams would follow the initial selection of the premier five draft picks.
This structure features a built-in safety net, preventing the weakest franchises from falling lower than 10th in the draft order.
Team executives and basketball operations departments will now scrutinise these concepts to identify any potential unintended consequences.