Should the lottery draft order be decided by wins after playoff elimination?

Say Hey Kid

War, children, it's just a shot away
Dec 10, 2007
23,927
5,694
ATL
Should the lottery draft order be decided by wins after playoff elimination? The teams who win the most games after playoff elimination would pick first and the teams with the least wins after playoff elimination would pick last. The point about the "better" teams having less chances for wins is moot because they should pick after the "worse" teams anyways.
 

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
40,705
17,087
Mulberry Street
No because the worst teams will likely never get better if they can't pick high. The rich will get richer as well.

Imagine if the 2018 Lakers ended up with a high pick and landed Jaren Jackson, Doncic or Young and still ended up making the Davis trade.
 

Brodeur

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
26,108
15,742
San Diego
You seem obsessed with this idea. Several threads on the NHL board and now with the NBA.

Like I said in the NHL one, the inherent problem is how much motivation does the current roster have? Maybe slightly different with the smaller roster sizes of the NBA but there'll still be plenty of roster turnover through trades/signings.

Let's just take the primary starters for the 2017-18 Phoenix Suns who won the lottery for the #1 pick.

SG Devin Booker - still on the team
PG Tyler Ulis - waived June 2018
SF T.J. Warren - traded July 2019
PF Marquese Chriss - traded August 2018
C Tyson Chandler - waived November 2018

4/5 guys had no particular loyalty to the Suns. Why would they care about playing for a higher pick? Especially with how small NBA rosters are, I'm not sure a guy would be that enthused to be playing for somebody who could be taking their job.

Mix in a situation where a superstar player misses most of the year due to injury, but happens to be healthy enough down the stretch to help "win" the higher pick.
 
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