Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I have been on this train since the salary cap came in. The draft lottery system is no longer needed for parity, and is in fact anti-parity. It rewards failure and entices franchises to put out an inferior product in order to hoard young talent.
I think the way to determine draft order and lottery odds should take into consideration a few different factors and not be just based on standings. Standings should be part of it, but also the points spread between teams in a given year. In not every season is the bottom team proportionately worse than than other bottom teams, at least not enough to over compensate for the difference by automatically giving them a phenomenal prospect over the next teams. Some times lower teams in the standings are also obviously on the verge of turning it around and getting another top pick is just overkill. Meanwhile franchises that always try to bet the best product on the ice but can't get over the hump, are forced to stay mediocre or just luck out drafting a franchise player in a later round.
I think some formula should be derived to determine draft order that takes into consideration standings, point distribution in the standings, and previous draft positions (traded picks would count as belonging to the team that originally had the pick).
Going strictly by standings to determine odds and positions is just lazy
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Certainly off topic to the thread but it’s a great conversation.
I’ve converted to believing that in all team sports, draft position/lottery should be based on standings over the past THREE years. The teams who have not made the playoffs once at any point get first selections, and that could be determined by a lottery weighted on 3-year performance. Teams that made the playoffs once, twice etc would pick subsequently, again weighted lottery. Keep the format as is for teams who made the playoffs in the past season.
Edit: to add a layer of strategy, how about a ‘generational talent’ rule, whereby a team could defer their pick/position for a max 2 years and be guaranteed the same spot in future drafts. So for example, a team wins the lottery 2 years before McDufus is eligible and thinks he’s worth the wait. They end up with the decision of whether it’s worthwhile to sacrifice 2 years of first round picks prior to his selection to be guaranteed the option of drafting him. This way, a no-brainer generational talent ends up costing a team multiple 1st round picks, rather than just one.