The NBA Draft seems long enough, but owners may want it expanded
By Jeff Lenchiner
One of the less important season-destroying issues in the ongoing collective bargaining agreement discussions that have currently left the basketball world in the midst of an off-season NBA lockout is the Draft.
Generally, most people in the league are OK with NBA Draft basics: Two rounds, first round picks are guaranteed to receive a contract, while second rounders are not. There is room to discuss the amount of years rookie contracts should be, how they’re guaranteed, and of course the amount of money players who get drafted will be paid, but the basic framework is pretty simple and fairly agreeable.
On the one hand, a team that was going to finish in the ballpark of the 15th best/worst record in the league would probably have to consider the benefit of losing a couple of games to make sure they have a bottom-15 record. Not that I would ever accuse a team of tanking, of course. But I have to assume a team would consider every possible course of action available to them, especially if just a couple bad shots here and there would potentially lead to a possibly significant draft benefit.
But, teams make a lot of money with each home playoff game they play. Teams with the 15th best record are probably right on the playoff bubble. Would an owner want to lose out on certain financial gains just to get better draft picks? Doubtful, especially if the picks were only going to be in the mid-teens and then late 20’s. The real gems in the draft tend to be the guys selected up top, of course. Usually.
I don’t think the NBA draft needs a third round anytime soon. It would only make sense if the D-League was expanded and/or the NBA had a complete (and good) minor league system.
But I do like the idea of shaking things up and helping bad teams speed up the rebuilding process. Only if it makes sense and is fair to the league as a whole, though.
Read NBA fan reaction or share your opinion in this basketball forum topic.
