Instead of having the NBA draft lottery, the league should implement a tournament to see which team truly deserves the No. 1 pick.
The big picture: As more and more teams realize that the draft may not be the best way to go for improvement, here is a new way to potentially fix that system.
How it would work: Sometime after the end of the NBA playoffs and before the NBA draft in June, lottery-bound teams will head to a neutral arena such as the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada to play the games.
Very simply, this is how things would work:
This is how it would work with current teams:
This should give teams more incentive to improve in the offseason. Currently, teams are willing to spend years in the cellar of the NBA, amassing draft picks. Although “The Process” appears to have worked with the Philadelphia 76ers, not all fan bases are willing to trust such an approach.
“Never tell me the odds”: There are some potential drawbacks to this concept.
Conversely, as teams get more competitive, that should increase revenue as more fans will watch games because their team isn’t as bad. Additionally, the NBA Draft playoff would bring in more revenue as well for the city in which the neutral arena is located.
The bottom line: Although NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is beginning to curb “tanking” throughout the league, this new system would further lower the odds that teams would tank in the regular season.
Along with adding a more competitive atmosphere, this will allow fans the opportunity to watch more basketball during the doldrums of the NBA offseason. With more fans watching more basketball, the league and the host cities will make more revenue with which they can use in order to make more competitive teams.