TheOtherOne
Registered User
- Jan 2, 2010
- 8,274
- 5,272
Sorry if I'm using up my quota of draft lottery threads. But on the other hand, this topic gets millions of replies, so that kind of indicates that we all want to keep talking about it. So let's do.
I think this idea is relatively unique (I haven't seen anything like it yet) and when weighing the pros and cons I think it's a really solid option.
The new draft:
- The bottom team in each division enters a lottery for the first 4 draft picks. Each of the 4 has an equal chance at each pick.
- All other teams draft in reverse order (worst teams get earliest picks).
Why?
- ** The main purpose of the draft is to make the worst teams better. This guarantees the 4 worst teams (divisionally) a top-4 pick, and all other teams draft accordingly by the standings. Bubble teams will not get early picks.
- Each of the lottery teams would have a better chance at better picks than they do under the current rules, due to fewer teams being in that pool. (My system: 25/25/25/25%; Current system: 18.5/16.5/14.4/50.6% at best)
- I like making divisions more relevant. Each division having its own lottery team seems nice, and removes some effect of one division having an easier or harder schedule than another.
- This will spread out the top talent evenly amongst the 4 divisions over time.
- ** The main purpose of the lottery aspect of the draft is to minimize incentive for tanking. Nearing the end of the season, there would be a much lower chance that a given game will affect the lottery odds. If 2 weak teams meet each other, chances are pretty good that A) they will be in different divisions or B) they will already be separated by about 8 points in the standings, making a single game pretty meaningless.
- Most people agree that the difference between 5th and 6th pick is minimal compared to 1st and 2nd, so it's not so important to randomize those.
- It's much simpler than a lot of alternatives I've seen. Easy for even a casual fan to understand.
Note: I am NOT claiming this is a perfect system that will completely eliminate the possibility of tanking. There will always be outside situations where it will be beneficial for one team to lose a game. What I am saying is that I believe this is the closest thing I can imagine to perfect, and I think it does the best job of fixing all the biggest concerns that keep popping up in the draft lottery threads ("the worst teams need lottery picks", "bubble teams shouldn't get lottery picks", etc.)
I think this idea is relatively unique (I haven't seen anything like it yet) and when weighing the pros and cons I think it's a really solid option.
The new draft:
- The bottom team in each division enters a lottery for the first 4 draft picks. Each of the 4 has an equal chance at each pick.
- All other teams draft in reverse order (worst teams get earliest picks).
Why?
- ** The main purpose of the draft is to make the worst teams better. This guarantees the 4 worst teams (divisionally) a top-4 pick, and all other teams draft accordingly by the standings. Bubble teams will not get early picks.
- Each of the lottery teams would have a better chance at better picks than they do under the current rules, due to fewer teams being in that pool. (My system: 25/25/25/25%; Current system: 18.5/16.5/14.4/50.6% at best)
- I like making divisions more relevant. Each division having its own lottery team seems nice, and removes some effect of one division having an easier or harder schedule than another.
- This will spread out the top talent evenly amongst the 4 divisions over time.
- ** The main purpose of the lottery aspect of the draft is to minimize incentive for tanking. Nearing the end of the season, there would be a much lower chance that a given game will affect the lottery odds. If 2 weak teams meet each other, chances are pretty good that A) they will be in different divisions or B) they will already be separated by about 8 points in the standings, making a single game pretty meaningless.
- Most people agree that the difference between 5th and 6th pick is minimal compared to 1st and 2nd, so it's not so important to randomize those.
- It's much simpler than a lot of alternatives I've seen. Easy for even a casual fan to understand.
Note: I am NOT claiming this is a perfect system that will completely eliminate the possibility of tanking. There will always be outside situations where it will be beneficial for one team to lose a game. What I am saying is that I believe this is the closest thing I can imagine to perfect, and I think it does the best job of fixing all the biggest concerns that keep popping up in the draft lottery threads ("the worst teams need lottery picks", "bubble teams shouldn't get lottery picks", etc.)