Winner of the 7-8 Play in will only get 1 ball. All other play in teams will get 2.
Adam Silver also has new powers to adjust odds or take picks to combat tanking.
This passed 29-1 with only the Grizzlies voting against.
Just want to point out some corrections, at least in my understanding:
- 16 teams total in the lottery now
- Winner of 7/8 game gets no lottery balls and is not a part of the lottery
- Loser of 7/8 game gets one ball
- 9/10 seeds both get two balls
- Bottom 3 teams overall get only two balls, but they cannot fall below 12 in the draft
- Remaining 7 non-play-in teams get three balls and can pick anywhere from 1-16
Additional restrictions:
- Cannot win #1 overall pick in consecutive drafts
- Cannot win a top 5 pick in three consecutive drafts
- Cannot attach top-12 through top-15 protections to newly traded draft picks
- League has expanded authority to reduce a team’s odds modify draft positions and/or impose fines in response to tanking
https://www.nba.com/news/nba-board-governors-approve-new-draft-lottery-system
I still don’t understand why the bottom three teams have worse odds than teams 4-10 from the bottom. Is it a measure to insure that teams that tank only tank a little bit? Even with flat odds for the bottom 10, there is no reason for a team not to start winning once they are out of the play-in. They would want to since it is more interesting for fans and helps with player development.
I agree. If this is successful in preventing tanking, someone still has to finish at the bottom. I guess it’s a slight relief that they can’t drop below 12, but it still feels a bit like kicking a man when he’s down.
I agree that part is a bit excessive. At best it makes things a bit more competitive for some late season games against bottom teams but feels unnecessary.
Wouldn’t be surprised if that part is removed in 3 years when they revisit this
