[TheGrimm]

OK, fleshed out my thoughts (slow day in the office)..

- Draft lottery rankings SET on trade deadline day, all 30 teams are ranked.
- Lottery takes place after the season is complete (only the bottom 16 teams compete in lotto).
- Teams can be bumped or added to lottery based on performance after deadline day, however ranking cannot change.

Looking at last years standings as of Feb 27 and at the end of the season as an example...

2 teams fell out of playoff contention, Dallas & Colorado.
2 teams worked their way into a playoff position, Washington & LA.

If the lottery was picked based on the standings as of February 27th, 2 teams would be removed from the lottery (WSH & LA) and two teams added to the lottery, COL & DAL into 15th and 16th positions.


The biggest moves UP the ranks in the bottom 16 after deadline day were Buffalo (+5 spots) followed by TB (+4), Carolina (+4) and CGY (+2)
The biggest moves DOWN the ranks were TOR (-5 spots) followed by COL (-4), DAL (-3), WPG (-2), MIN (-2), ANA (-2) and NYI (-1)
The bottom 3 teams maintained their respective positions, MTL, EDM & CBJ

Now with this, the teams that had solid runs after deadline day but don't make the playoffs really don't gain anything other than to be able to have played well and gave it everything they could. Teams that moved DOWN the ranks after deadline day would gain nothing either (unless they fell out of a playoff position) thereby removing the incentive to tank for a draft pick.

It's always possible a team can try to tank early in the season and make a push for the playoffs after deadline day, if they make it into the playoffs they will lose their lottery pick, if not, they could still draft much higher than they would have had they not tanked early.

Edit: I should mention one big caveat in that every team would have to have played the same number of games at deadline day for this to work.