eliteballer
03-08-2019, 06:17 PM
After some deliberation, I have a solution to these two scourges of the league, in one swoop.
It involves draft reform, please read all rules and "why" reasons before commenting, as there are checks and balances built-in:
Rule 1: The lottery will involve all 14 teams that do not participate in the playoffs, but ALL teams will have equal odds.
WHY THIS RULE WORKS: It eliminates the incentive to tank. See rule 2 to eliminate the obvious problem this rule could present.
Rule 2: Teams will (now we can tinker with this as needed) NOT be allowed to pick more than one top 3 pick or two top 5 picks in a given 5 year span. Which means there is overlap and rollover because the 5 year span applies separately to the top 3 and top 5 pick categories
WHY THIS RULE WORKS: It means the teams with the least talent will still generally end up higher in the draft order, because teams that have either been stockpiling highly drafted players in recent years but are still on the verge of being "good" and might have missed the playoffs won't be able to just scoop more franchise caliber guys over weaker teams by getting higher picks
However...if you're a TREADMILL team who has been building "the right way"(Washington? Portland?) and haven't been just getting high picks, you would STILL be eligible to grab a true franchise player or add a star caliber player to make the leap!
Rule 3: Teams that have either: Made it to the conference finals/finals OR won more than 55+ games in the previous year will NOT be eligible for a top 3 pick in the current draft.
WHY THIS RULE WORKS: Keeps teams who just had an epic 10 year run with a generational player who left/retired OR had an injury to a star player put them in the lottery(Spurs 96/97) from lucking into another generational star right away keeping them from less fortunate clubs. It's just a one time thing but helps to avoid situations like this.
Now no system is perfect, but I think this is about as close as you can get.
It involves draft reform, please read all rules and "why" reasons before commenting, as there are checks and balances built-in:
Rule 1: The lottery will involve all 14 teams that do not participate in the playoffs, but ALL teams will have equal odds.
WHY THIS RULE WORKS: It eliminates the incentive to tank. See rule 2 to eliminate the obvious problem this rule could present.
Rule 2: Teams will (now we can tinker with this as needed) NOT be allowed to pick more than one top 3 pick or two top 5 picks in a given 5 year span. Which means there is overlap and rollover because the 5 year span applies separately to the top 3 and top 5 pick categories
WHY THIS RULE WORKS: It means the teams with the least talent will still generally end up higher in the draft order, because teams that have either been stockpiling highly drafted players in recent years but are still on the verge of being "good" and might have missed the playoffs won't be able to just scoop more franchise caliber guys over weaker teams by getting higher picks
However...if you're a TREADMILL team who has been building "the right way"(Washington? Portland?) and haven't been just getting high picks, you would STILL be eligible to grab a true franchise player or add a star caliber player to make the leap!
Rule 3: Teams that have either: Made it to the conference finals/finals OR won more than 55+ games in the previous year will NOT be eligible for a top 3 pick in the current draft.
WHY THIS RULE WORKS: Keeps teams who just had an epic 10 year run with a generational player who left/retired OR had an injury to a star player put them in the lottery(Spurs 96/97) from lucking into another generational star right away keeping them from less fortunate clubs. It's just a one time thing but helps to avoid situations like this.
Now no system is perfect, but I think this is about as close as you can get.