SBNation.com - NBA draft lottery reform falls apart at last minutehttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46737/sbn-fave.png2014-10-22T22:40:03-04:00http://www.sbnation.com/rss/stream/68032502014-10-22T22:40:03-04:002014-10-22T22:40:03-04:00Andrew Wiggins looks different. What happened?<img src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/9eteYNiX5s9XFA_GNuk4VHat_T4=/410x410/cdn.vox-cdn.com/fan_shot_images/354944/price.0.jpg" />
<div class="source source-img"><p><p>Oh, that's A.J. Price.</p></p></div>
https://www.sbnation.com/2014/10/22/7043937/andrew-wiggins-looks-different-what-happenedRicky O'Donnell2014-10-22T11:41:38-04:002014-10-22T11:41:38-04:00Sixers fans thrilled about lottery reform not passing<blockquote>
<p><p>Commissioner Adam Silver and many other prominent figures around the league considered the reform a done-deal. Instead, many came to a similar conclusion <a href="http://www.libertyballers.com/2014/3/4/5459688/the-nbas-tanking-problem">our own Derek Bodner has been preaching</a>: reactionary decision-making is simply shortsighted and irresponsible.</p></p>
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<div class="source"><p><a href="http://www.libertyballers.com/2014/10/22/7039053/justice-prevails-board-of-governors-vote-fails-to-pass-lottery-reform">From SB Nation's 76ers blog Liberty Ballers.</a></p></div>
https://www.sbnation.com/2014/10/22/7039285/sixers-fans-thrilled-about-lottery-reform-not-passingMike Prada2014-10-22T11:06:26-04:002014-10-22T11:06:26-04:00Proposed draft lottery changes fail to pass
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<figcaption>Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The Philadelphia 76ers win! Reform isn't coming to the NBA draft lottery this year.</p> <p>Reform to the NBA's draft lottery system was reportedly imminent, but enough owners have had a last-second change of heart to shoot down the proposal. The league voted 17-13 in favor of the changes, which fell short of the 23 votes required to put the proposal into effect, <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/524938666234241024" target="_blank">according to Zach Lowe</a>.</p>
<p>Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported the full list of teams that voted against the proposal:</p>
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<p>Here were the 13 "No" votes, sources told Yahoo: PHX, PHL, OKC, NO, DET, MIA, MIL, San Antonio, Utah, Wash, ATL, CHA and Chicago.</p>
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/524939718065000448">October 22, 2014</a>
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<p>The proposed reform would've led to dramatic changes to the lottery that were reportedly set to go into effect immediately. The idea of reform was thought to be triggered by the seemingly shameless tanking of the Philadelphia 76ers, but apparently many other NBA owners felt like the proposed changes were more reactionary than measured. <a target="blank" href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/10/21/7029215/thunder-also-opposing-lottery-reform-changes">Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday</a> that Philadelphia and Oklahoma City were two teams opposing the changes, but that both front offices believed there was no question the proposal would go through.</p>
<p>Under the proposal, the first six picks in the draft would have been determined by the lottery, instead of only the first three picks under the current system. That means the team with the worst record could have picked as low as seventh. The proposed reform would have flattened out the odds throughout the lottery, a change Thunder GM Sam Presti argued would be another obstacle for small-market clubs who already struggle to attract top talent via free agency or in trades.</p>
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<p>One glum GM tells Yahoo: "Well, we still have the 'Be as shitty as humanly possible' strategy available in future if we need it."</p>
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/524942427807698945">October 22, 2014</a>
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<p>What's interesting about the vote is that small-market franchises weren't the only ones to oppose the changes. Chicago and Washington, who have each landed the No. 1 pick in the draft over the last 10 years, were among the teams to vote against the proposal.</p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/status/524940016267436032" target="blank">According to Wojnarowski</a>, a number of teams became concerned with unintended consequences the proposal could have. In the short term, the 76ers are the big winners. Savor that sentence, as you might not read it again for a long time.</p>
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https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/10/22/7039037/nba-draft-lottery-reform-veto-owner-voteRicky O'Donnell2014-10-21T14:45:53-04:002014-10-21T14:45:53-04:00Thunder, Bucks also oppose lottery reform
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<figcaption>Richard Rowe-US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Sam Presti has joined 76ers GM Sam Hinkie as an outspoken critic against the fight for lottery reform. The Bucks are also reportedly opposing the measure.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.libertyballers.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Philadelphia 76ers</a> aren't the only team opposing the potential changes to the format of the NBA draft lottery. Sam Presti and the <a href="https://www.welcometoloudcity.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Oklahoma City Thunder</a> have joined in on the fight by arguing the changes could have potentially devastating consequences for small market teams, <a href="http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-the-nba-s-draft-lottery-reform-is-a-slippery-slope-173150585.html">according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports</a>.</p>
<p>Presti believes lottery reform will give big market teams one more advantage against small market clubs that already struggle to attract top talent via free agency or in trades. The proposed changes flatten the odds throughout the lottery, raising the chances a team that just missed the playoffs could jump up in the draft order while the worst team in the league can now fall all the way to seventh. Under the current system, the league's worst team is guaranteed to draft no lower than fourth.</p>
<p>The Milwaukee Bucks are also reportedly on board with the 76ers and Thunder, according to Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix.</p>
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<p>Hearing that OKC and Milwaukee are the teams that have joined Philadelphia against lottery reform. Still, reform proposal expected to pass.</p>
— Chris Mannix (@ChrisMannixSI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisMannixSI/status/524616208566743040">October 21, 2014</a>
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<p>Presti aligning himself with Philadelphia is interesting because he built the Thunder into one of the NBA's best teams through high draft picks after several down seasons. The Thunder -- then known as the Seattle Sonics -- won 30 games in 2007 and used the second pick in the draft to select reigning MVP Kevin Durant. The next year, the franchise won 20 games and took star point guard Russell Westbrook. The year after that, the Thunder won 23 games and took All-Star shooting guard <span>James Harden</span>.</p>
<p>Lottery reform has been triggered by the blatant tanking of the Philadelphia 76ers, a franchise that made little effort to win last season and appears to be even worse this year. The 76ers have drafted <span>Nerlens Noel</span>, <span>Michael Carter-Williams</span>, <span>Joel Embiid</span> and <span>Dario Saric</span> with their four lottery picks over the last two seasons, but GM Sam Hinkie doesn't see the rebuilding job as being over quite yet.</p>
<p>A vote on lottery form will be held Wednesday, with the proposed changes expected to go into effect immediately. Six more teams would have to allign themselves with Philadelphia and Oklahoma City in order to block the vote, and Wojnarowski reports that team officials do not believe it will happen. Lottery reform is coming, whether the 76ers and Thunder like it or not.</p>
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/10/21/7029215/thunder-also-opposing-lottery-reform-changesRicky O'Donnell2014-10-03T14:11:13-04:002014-10-03T14:11:13-04:00NBA expected to pass draft lottery reform
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<figcaption>Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The league's 30 teams are expected to vote on a proposal that'll make it much more difficult for the league's worst teams to earn high draft picks. This comes in response to frustration about the 76ers' rebuilding strategy.</p> <p>The 30 NBA teams will soon vote on a proposal that dramatically decreases the odds of the worst teams earning the top pick in the NBA draft lottery starting as soon as next season, <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/518092005197766656">according to Grantland's Zach Lowe</a>. The vote could happen as soon as the NBA Board of Governors meeting in late Oct. and is expected to pass "easily," <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/518096336856809472">according to Lowe</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-lottery-reform-is-coming/">Under the terms of the new proposal</a>, the league's four worst teams will have an equal 12 percent chance of earning the top pick, with the next two teams following with only slightly worse odds. The league would draw ping pong balls for the top six spots instead of the top three, so the worst team is guaranteed to pick no worse than seventh. The odds for the other selections would be as follows.</p>
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<p>.<a href="https://twitter.com/PistonPowered">@PistonPowered</a> Proposed dds of No. 1 pick for teams 7-10: 8.5%, 7%, 5.5 %, 4%. All have 13%-plus shot at top-3.</p>
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/518097088786477056">October 3, 2014</a>
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<p>Four teams w/ best record would have, in order, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, 2.5% chance at No. 1 pick and better chance than today of moving into top-6</p>
— Zach Lowe (@ZachLowe_NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/518095773293350912">October 3, 2014</a>
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<p>Currently, only three spots are drawn and the worst team is guaranteed to finish no lower than fourth. The worst team has a 25 percent shot to win the lottery, followed by a 19.9-percent chance for the second-worst team and a 15.6-percent chance for the third-worst. This old system had persisted since 1993.</p>
<p>But the movement for reform has grown strong in response to the Philadelphia 76ers' strategy of bottoming out completely to put themselves in position to win high draft picks. Rival teams are angered by the 76ers' approach, which has netted them Nerlens Noel, Michael Carter-Williams, Joel Embiid and Dario Saric in the last three years. The 76ers are sure to oppose the new proposal because it dramatically affects their rebuilding strategy, but they aren't expected to receive much support from the other 28 teams.</p>
<p>Any vote that happens this season is expected to go into effect immediately.</p>
https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/10/3/6902609/nba-draft-lottery-reform-2015-philadelphia-76ers-tankMike Prada2014-08-19T10:09:50-04:002014-08-19T10:09:50-04:00Lottery reform will have unintended consequences
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<figcaption>Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Ending tanking comes with a cost to competitive balance. Is the trade-off worth it?</p> <p>Anyone who followed the 2011 NBA lockout knows the phrase "competitive balance" should come with a trigger warning.</p>
<p>NBA officials, led by then-deputy commish Adam Silver, insisted that competitive balance was the driving force behind a laundry list of reforms to the league's economic system. From a stricter luxury tax to new restrictions on the types of transactions high payroll teams can make, competitive balance was the official rationale. Silver, his then-boss David Stern and owners lamented that so many teams entered a season with little hope of even making the postseason, let alone winning a title. Many of the reforms approved in the new collective bargaining agreement were presented as solutions to that problem.</p>
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<img src="http://cdn1.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/663494/Adam_Silver_Photo_credit-_Mike_Stobe.0.jpg"> <em>Adam Silver, Photo credit: Mike Stobe/Getty Images</em>
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<p>These days, there's a different reform we talk about in NBA circles: the draft lottery. The league may take action before the season begins and establish new odds for the 2015 NBA Draft, <a href="http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11284856/philadelphia-76ers-fighting-nba-push-change-lottery-system?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=NBA%20National%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=GMIB%207%2F31%2F2014" target="_blank">despite the protests of the Philadelphia 76ers</a>. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/7/31/5954787/sixers-nba-draft-lottery-reform-tanking" target="_blank">As I've argued</a>, lottery reform is a thing precisely because Sixers GM Sam Hinkie has so effectively and so nakedly played the draft to his advantage. That's not a criticism of Hinkie or his plan -- under the current system, it's a totally valid strategy that's considerably less destructive than some would have you believe.</p>
<p>But the brutal honesty of Hinkie's gambit sparked a whole lot of outrage and a push for immediate reform. Apparently, Silver is on board with a few tweaks to the system to drop the likelihood the very worst teams will guarantee themselves a top pick.</p>
<p>What's interesting to me, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/2014/3/17/5517656/nba-tanking-draft-lottery-rebuilding-adam-silver" target="_blank">as I first wrote about in March</a>, is how these two reform movements play against each other.</p>
<p>There is diversity among the NBA's cadre of horrible teams. Not every ugly club is engaging in institutional tanking. Consider last season. Those Sixers finished with the league's second-worst record after scraping most of the veteran value off of the roster. But the Milwaukee Bucks were even worse ... and not on purpose. Before the season, the Bucks loudly stated their intent to make the playoffs, and were held up as <i>the</i> counterexample of the Sixers and their ilk. Milwaukee was the team that would not tank.</p>
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<p>As we covered at length, <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/2013/11/25/5143060/milwaukee-bucks-nba-draft-standings-tank" target="_blank">sometimes the tank comes for you</a>. The Bucks rolled through a carnival of maladies to a 15-67 record. Unlike in Philly, that wasn't the desired outcome. But desires don't really matter when the ping pong balls come calling; the altruistically failed Bucks ended up picking No. 2 and the tactically horrid Sixers picked No. 3. There is no Basketball God. (Ask Portland.)</p>
<p>To be successful in the NBA, you need stars. The easiest way to get a star is to draft him. <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/6/25/5831860/nba-draft-picks-2014-superstars-chart" target="_blank">Half of all NBA stars are drafted within the top five picks.</a> The best way to get a top-five pick is to be among the five worst teams in the NBA. Like it or not, this system is in line with the idea of competitive balance: you strengthen the weak teams in the hopes that they can catch the strong teams. If you alter that system to hurt the chances of the weakest teams to improve and democratize the odds of getting those high-pick stars to some degree, you are working against competitive balance.</p>
<p>Under the proposed reforms, a team like the Suns -- who barely missed the playoffs with a well above .500 record -- would have better chances of landing a top-five pick. Meanwhile, the odds of the worst teams to stay in the top five would decrease. The league would be creating a greater chance of the rich getting richer at the expense of the worst teams.</p>
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<a href="http://www.sbnation.com/the-hook"> <img src="http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/3117975/the-hook.jpg"></a><span>A column on the NBA.</span><span> <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/8/14/5998037/clippers-sale-donald-sterling-billions-players-union-lockout">8/14: Players should share in team sale profits</a><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/8/11/5990505/ed-obannon-ncaa-nba-draft-age-minimum-adam-silver">8/11: What O'Bannon means to the NBA</a><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/8/8/5982189/mitch-richmond-basketball-hall-of-fame-heroic-losers">8/8: Mitch Richmond & heroic losers</a><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/8/6/5974485/eric-bledsoe-greg-monroe-contract-pistons-suns">8/6: Solutions for Bledsoe and Monroe</a><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/8/4/5966643/pacers-future-paul-george-injury-david-west">8/4: The Pacers are screwed</a><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/8/1/5958689/lebron-james-decision-cavaliers-surprising-reasons">8/1: LeBron's decision was surprising</a><a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/7/31/5954787/sixers-nba-draft-lottery-reform-tanking">7/31: Blame the 76ers for lottery changes</a></span>
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<p>Lottery reform certainly has <i>some</i> competitive balance benefits. By removing part of the incentive to be awful, more teams could try to be competitive every season. Teams like the Magic, who last year continued their multi-year rebuild by loading up on minutes for project players, could have prioritized winning a bit more knowing that being really bad wouldn't have helped much more than being just bad. The idea is that you'd have fewer teams acting like the Sixers, Magic and Celtics and more teams acting like Hawks, Suns, Cavaliers and Kings. Atlanta made the playoffs in the shallow East. Phoenix was the best lottery team ever. Cleveland tried hard to win. Sacramento attempted to boost its win total to spark an attitude reversal.</p>
<p>But the Cavaliers and Kings still stunk, just like other try-hard squads like Milwaukee, Detroit, New York and New Orleans. And here's the dirty secret about competitive balance: unless you have every single team in the 35- to 47-win range, you're going to have awful teams every season. The best way to get those awful teams back on the horse as soon as possible is to give them the best incoming players via the draft.</p>
<p>Does the benefit of shrinking the incentive to tank outweigh the consequence of hurting the cleanest tool of competitive balance available to the league? This is what the NBA must realize when it comes to draft reform.</p>
<p>And this applies not just to the lottery reform proposal on the table: all ideas need to be filtered through this prism. The NBA pushed a lot of policy changes in the name of competitive balance, policy changes that affect teams and players a great deal.</p>
<p>Is it worth unwinding some of that progress to appease the vocal opponents of the minor scourge of institutional tanking?</p>
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https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/8/19/6030297/nba-draft-lottery-reform-tanking-competitive-balanceTom Ziller2014-07-31T10:33:56-04:002014-07-31T10:33:56-04:00Blame the 76ers for the lottery changing
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<figcaption>Original photo via Howard Smith/US PRESSWIRE</figcaption>
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<p>Incremental lottery reform -- and not anything more drastic -- is the right move for the league. The 76ers have little room to complain since they are the reason change is happening.</p> <p>Earlier this month <a target="_blank" href="http://grantland.com/the-triangle/nba-lottery-reform-is-coming/">the great Zach Lowe revealed that NBA officials are considering serious changes to the NBA Draft lottery </a>that could go into effect as soon as next season. The reforms aren't of the earthshaking variety like <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/nba/2013/12/23/5238308/nba-draft-lottery-wheel-proposal-tanking">Mike Zarren's Wheel</a> or the <a href="http://www.sbnation.com/2013/12/27/5247378/nba-draft-2013-tanking-adam-silver-parks-and-recreation">Cones of Silvershire</a>, but are instead incremental amendments meant to lighten the incentive to lose. The short version: more picks would be decided by lottery, the odds would be further democratized among the worst half-dozen or so teams and teams later in the lottery would have better odds than they currently do.</p>
<p>Why now? <a href="http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/category/_/name/hoopidea">Efforts by Henry Abbott and Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com</a> to bring institutional tanking further into the public consciousness deserve credit, as does behind-the-scenes work by front office folks named and anonymous. Lowe has absolutely been on top of the subject as well.</p>
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<p>But if you have to credit just one person for the sudden movement to reform the lottery, then there's an obvious choice: Philadelphia 76ers general manager Sam Hinkie.</p>
<p>Hinkie so thoroughly flouted league norms a year ago that the lottery and institutional tanking became major themes of the season. Many Sixers fans defended Hinkie's plan, while other NBA observers bemoaned it. Either way, it was a lightning rod <i>everyone</i> weighed in on. Apparently, enough of Hinkie's contemporaries disliked the Sixers' plan and its ramifications that lottery reform is now seemingly inevitable.</p>
<p><i>Of course</i> the Sixers seriously oppose lottery reform right now, <a target="_blank" href="http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11284856/philadelphia-76ers-fighting-nba-push-change-lottery-system?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=NBA%20National%20Newsletter&utm_campaign=GMIB%207%2F31%2F2014">as Brian Windhorst reported on Wednesday</a>. If implemented as reported, the new lottery rules would decrease the benefit for being super bad (as the Sixers expect to be). Philly had the league's second-worst record last year, which meant they would pick no lower than No. 5. (They picked No. 3.) Under proposed rules, Philly could finish with the worst record and pick No. 7! In fact, there'd be a decent chance of that happening! <i>Of course</i> the Sixers oppose lottery reform.</p>
<p>Some think the proposed reforms don't go far enough, that giving all 14 lottery teams equal odds, including all 30 teams in the derby or moving toward something like The Wheel are the better solutions. That'd be right if institutional tanking were a more destructive problem. But with only two or three teams apparently intending to lose big next season (most notably the Sixers), you don't want to overreact and blow up the system for a relatively minor issue.</p>
<p>Why? Because of the specter of unintended consequences. You don't nuke a hotel when two or three cockroaches are found in the hallway. You investigate the source of the problem and work to fix it without upsetting guests. Giving the <a href="https://www.poundingtherock.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Spurs</a> ping pong balls or equalizing the odds between the <a href="https://www.brewhoop.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Bucks</a> and the <a href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Suns</a> could set off untold other issues.</p>
<p><img src="http://cdn2.vox-cdn.com/assets/4844618/Sam_Hinkie_Photo_credit-_USA_TODAY_Sports.jpg" width="100%" class="photo" alt="Sam_hinkie_photo_credit-_usa_today_sports"> <em>
<p>Sam Hinkie, Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports</p>
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<p>Some examples:</p>
<p>* If you "unweight" the lottery and give all 14 non-playoff teams an equal shot at No. 1, the inclusion of draft picks in trades will be reduced dramatically. You'll still have some moved with heavy protections, but generally teams will be less likely to trade their picks if they know they have a strong shot at winning a cornerstone piece without bottoming out.</p>
<p>* The league has instituted some dramatic rules under the guise of competitive balance, like the escalating luxury tax, the repeater tax and various restrictions on tax teams in signing or trading for players. If you add the playoff teams to the lottery, you instantly blow any competitive balance progress to smithereens.</p>
<div class="pullquote">you don't want to overreact and blow up the system for a relatively minor issue.</div>
<p>* These sorts of reforms make it easier to envision a new <a href="https://www.clipsnation.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Clippers</a>. For about 30 years L.A.'s stepchild team was almost exclusively awful. You can absolutely blame that on poor management and a cheap owner, but that doesn't change the fact that one of the NBA's teams was atrocious <span>for 30 years</span><span>. If you lessen the ability of the draft to help the worst teams, you're increasing the odds of perpetually awful teams forming. Sure, the </span><a href="https://www.canishoopus.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Timberwolves</a><span> and </span><a href="https://www.sactownroyalty.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Kings</a><span> have been bad for roughly a decade. Take away </span><span>Kevin Love</span><span> and </span><span>DeMarcus Cousins</span><span> and imagine how much worse it could be. Is it worth preventing a Sixers (intentionally horrible for three years) by creating a Clippers (unintentionally awful for 30 years)?</span></p>
<p>The worst thing the NBA could do about Hinkie and the Sixers is overreact. That's why the proposed reforms make sense. Under the current system, a GM decided to exploit the rules to ensure a series of high draft picks and give himself a better chance of building a long-term contender. The bosses don't want to see it repeated, so they are nudging the levers to <a target="_blank" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerf_(video_gaming)">"nerf"</a> this particular strategy. It's totally reasonable and appropriate, just as it's totally reasonable for the Sixers to fight it tooth and nail.</p>
<p>They don't have much of a case -- "you're ruining our reason for being the worst!" is not exactly sympathetic -- but Hinkie wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't fight reform.</p>
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https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/7/31/5954787/sixers-nba-draft-lottery-reform-tankingTom Ziller2014-07-30T10:48:08-04:002014-07-30T10:48:08-04:0076ers upset with lottery changes
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<img alt="" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/T5uo9nApMJHTOJP-5gjSBHpFZ6Y=/0x0:4000x2667/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/36259332/20140327_jcd_at5_126.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>The NBA's trusted tankers aren't thrilled with Adam Silver's push to change a draft lottery system because of course.</p> <p>Fool the NBA once, get a high draft pick or two. Fool the NBA twice and, well, don't expect to be rewarded. The <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.libertyballers.com/">Philadelphia 76ers</a> want to delay the NBA's push to alter the draft lottery system, and they made their stance clear during league meetings in Las Vegas earlier this month, <a style="background-color: #ffffff;" href="http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/11284856/philadelphia-76ers-fighting-nba-push-change-lottery-system" target="_blank">sources told ESPN's Brian Windhorst</a>.</p>
<p>Good luck to them fighting the good fight.</p>
<p>If the Sixers feel they're being treated unfairly, it's because they are. There are probably several proposals of how the lottery will be altered, but any new system certainly is meant to hurt the Sixers, who went 19-63 last season after once again blatantly toeing the line of using losing to help their NBA Draft odds.</p>
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<p>Philadelphia traded young All-Star <span>Jrue Holiday</span> last summer for rookie <span>Nerlens Noel</span>, who came into draft night injured. General manager Sam Hinkie and company proceeded in the 2014 draft by using the third overall pick to select injured <span>Joel Embiid</span> -- he who will miss a good chunk of the year coming off a foot injury -- and then traded for draft-and-stash forward <span>Dario Saric</span>. There have been no significant free agent signings despite freeing up loads of cap space. Other than Noel's expected impact after he finally makes his debut, there are no signs the 2014-15 season will turn out much better than last.</p>
<p>Furthermore, the Sixers' tanking has led to some poor revenue figures in an important market, according to Windhorst.</p>
<p>So yeah, the league isn't too happy. Windhorst reports that Philly isn't likely to receive much support from other teams to delay changes that will even out the lottery odds for the top-14 picks. Under the current system, the worst team in the league has a 25 percent chance of winning the first overall pick. The weight given to teams high in the lottery is such that the sixth-worst team only has a 21.5 percent shot of landing in the top-3.</p>
<p>The Sixers don't own any first-round picks from other teams, though their glut of second-rounders is another story. They've been working with their own picks, while teams like the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.celticsblog.com/">Boston Celtics</a>, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.brightsideofthesun.com/">Phoenix Suns</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.blogabull.com/">Chicago Bulls</a> have acquired multiple first-round picks from other teams that could be lottery-bound. Those teams seemingly have set themselves up for a new lottery system based on more random luck rather than controlling their own fate by losing. If only the Sixers had such foresight.</p>
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https://www.sbnation.com/nba/2014/7/30/5951553/76ers-proposed-nba-draft-lottery-changesKevin Zimmerman