Proposed Overhaul Of The NBA Draft Would Eliminate Tanking. Should NHL consider?

[Mister Yamoto]

I'm generally not one of those conspiracy theory type of guys. But the last time a generational talent was drafted (Crosby), the NHL used a pure lottery to determine draft order because of the lock out.

A lot of people speculated that it was rigged to help save the Penguins. I think that seems ridiculous. But if the NHL brings in this roulette wheel just in time for the next generational talent (McDavid) even I might be thinking that something fishy is going on.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

This is a pretty silly idea, one that is more likely to again favour the have franchises at the expense of the have nots. Theoretical situation: Toronto is going to pick #1 in 2015, the Lakers are going to pick #1 in 2016. These are now locked in under this system. LeBron James II (just work with me here) wants to play in LA, not Toronto. Now he can simply not declare himself eligible for the 2015 draft, and even if the Lakers win it all in 2016 and Toronto finished DFL, he's going to LA in 2016. I'm sure you'll be able to build a strong, national fan base (obviously not, you'll become like baseball, a regional sport). The system can now be severely slanted to the big market squads.

Yeah, this idea wouldn't really work in the current NBA system where the players declare themselves eligible for the draft. You would have top players choosing which year was the best to declare their eligibility to end up on a specific team.

This idea would actually work better with the format of the NHL draft, but I still don't like it.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Mister Yamoto

Have all of the teams that miss the playoffs play in a short tournament. The tournament of losers. The winning team gets the first overall pick.

I actually don't think this is such a bad idea. Realistically, a bubble team that just misses the playoffs is in just as bad a shape as a team that tanked to the bottom. Why not make it a mini playoff for draft rankings, winner gets 1st overall, runner up 2nd, etc. It'd give fans of teams outside the playoffs something to cheer for in the post season. I'm sure it would also add to HRR, so players get more of the revenue pie when all is said and done.

[Mike F]

Originally Posted by photon

I like that teams could 100% try to improve all the time. Right now there's trades the Flames maybe could make but wouldn't because it doesn't make sense to try and earn 10 extra points in the standings and hurt your draft position (or at least you have to ask the question). With fixed draft positions, all teams don't have to ask the question.

Either I'm not following, or I really disagree.

The Flames are building for the future. I think they won't make a trade that sacrifices the future to gain 10 points now, but I don't agree that they'd hold off on trades that make sense for both present and future in order to secure a higher draft position. Just look at the Smid trade, which was all about improving the team this season as well as going forward.

No team should be punished for not having current success as the main priority. Tanking (i.e. not just having the future as the main priority, but actively trying to underperform) should be punished, but I can't think of a team in recent memory that has struck me as actually doing that.

[pylon]

If they adopt this, they have to commit to it for 30 years come hell or high water. Or else it is unfair for the teams that gets jipped out of their first pick the year they cancel it.

[Skaloper]

How does this eliminate tanking? A team could still trade away all their players at the trade deadline to get more draft picks.

[Ped]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The NBA has the worst tanking issue in professional sports so I can see why they are looking at this. The NHL doesn't have the same degree of obvious tanking but it's getting worse as we saw the Predators, Flames, Avalanche, Hurricanes all purposely tank to a degree last season. I would like to see that if a team picks top 5 for two years straight that they be relegated to picking in the teens if they finish bottom 10 in year 3. I think everyone is getting tired of seeing the same group of teams pick top five almost every season as it's just not good for the sport or fans of those teams.

Too many people confuse ineptitude with tanking.

If the Avs really wanted to tank last year they wouldn't have matched Calgary's offersheet; lessening themselves and strengthening a competitor in the meantime.

[WCW Nitro]

Just have the non-playoff teams in a lottery(one ball per team) each year to determine picks 1-14. Gets rid of tanking and gives the not so horrible teams a way out of "not good enough to make playoffs, not bad enough for a top pick" type of situation.

[AcGold]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

hmmm another 3 columns in the standings?

I don't know, atleast it would motivate the bottom feeders and make it fun for the fans until the very end. They could do it with something like a draft points column, most points=first in draft and the worse the team is the more points they get per win. I like the idea, more interesting games for those of us with not even a sniff at the playoffs.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

The NBA has the worst tanking issue in professional sports so I can see why they are looking at this. The NHL doesn't have the same degree of obvious tanking but it's getting worse as we saw the Predators, Flames, Avalanche, Hurricanes all purposely tank to a degree last season. I would like to see that if a team picks top 5 for two years straight that they be relegated to picking in the teens if they finish bottom 10 in year 3. I think everyone is getting tired of seeing the same group of teams pick top five almost every season as it's just not good for the sport or fans of those teams.

I think the allure of a top five pick takes pressure off coaching staff and management to go all out and try and win games down the stretch as getting a high pick probably outweighs needless points at the end of the season but that's bad for the fans and the league to watch non-competitive teams like we saw in the last month of the season as some teams in particular were disgusting with their lack of compete.

How did any of these teams try to tank? Nashville traded Erat (who asked for a trade), the Hurricanes and Avalanche made only minor trades. The only trade that qualifies as a potential tanking trade is the Flames with Bouwmeester. The Iginla trade was moving a free agent who may have left for nothing.

Just sucking doesn't mean you are tanking. The Flames suck this year... but they clearly aren't tanking or else they'd just trade anyone decent for picks and go with a full out rookie line-up.

[Senator Clay Davis]

I think one way to try and prevent tanking is to weigh the lottery more fairly, and use 3 years as the basis. Last year would be a good example: Tampa Bay finishes with the 3rd worst record, but realistically are not the 3rd worse team in terms of talent, and the previous 2 seasons show that, as they include a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals. So when weighted over 3 years they would be more likely to be picking 7th or 8th.

This way it means in order to be like the Oilers, you have to commit to tanking for an extended period, which would normally be bad for a franchise though for whatever reason fans keep showing up in Edmonton for a last place team more than they do in Phoenix for a potential playoff team.

[powderjunkie]

25th-30th = 10 % chance (i.e. 2 balls)
17th - 24th = 5% chance (i.e. 1 ball)

Determine 1st through 14th by drawing all of the balls.

[_Q_]

I don't know if this will eliminate tanking really, but why not keep the first round as is, but then rounds 2 - 7 do it in reverse order. So the Stanley Cup champs get pick 31, 61, 91, etc., runners up pick 2, 3rd picks 3rd and so on. That way you aren't necessarily punishing teams for being bad, but you're also not doing them any favours by making them wait 60 or so picks before they pick again.

Trades also become more interesting... suddenly Cammy to a contender for a prospect and a second round pick doesn't seem all that bad.

[Fozzie_DeBear]

It should be pretty easy to see if the current system is effective in helping teams rebuild....there should be a correlation between top draft picks (in crappy seasons) leading to improved positions in subsequent seasons.

If you have the data you could see whether the system is actually effective in helping rebuild...I'd hypothesize that it isn't a strong correlation.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

It should be pretty easy to see if the current system is effective in helping teams rebuild....there should be a correlation between top draft picks (in crappy seasons) leading to improved positions in subsequent seasons.

If you have the data you could see whether the system is actually effective in helping rebuild...I'd hypothesize that it isn't a strong correlation.

what constitutes success? playoffs? division titles? stanley cups?
If it's Stanley Cup, that will be tough since only one is given out a year and there are at least 10 teams rebuilding.

[ForeverFlameFan]

Well if this gets implemented, make sure it's after this coming draft.. My Jazz need Jabari Parker badly.

[Resolute 14]

Frankly, this proposal seems designed to ensure the best teams are always the best teams. It is pretty much the antithesis of the purpose of the draft.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by PeteMoss

How did any of these teams try to tank? Nashville traded Erat (who asked for a trade), the Hurricanes and Avalanche made only minor trades. The only trade that qualifies as a potential tanking trade is the Flames with Bouwmeester. The Iginla trade was moving a free agent who may have left for nothing.

Just sucking doesn't mean you are tanking. The Flames suck this year... but they clearly aren't tanking or else they'd just trade anyone decent for picks and go with a full out rookie line-up.

I have a question for you then. Outside of the Panthers do you see the Avs, Preds, Lightning, or Hurricanes picking top 5 in July? Not even close right and it looks like none of them will even pick top 10. The draft must have been pretty good for those teams to all improve so much just a season later or maybe just maybe there were some shenanigans after all? Like magic they are all better than the Flames and Oilers this season after all being worse last season despite all those teams having better talent.

Nashville for the first time in their history stopped being competitive for the last month of the season losing 13 of their last 15 games. Now they are back to being the Predators again this season. Not buying trades or injuries as they flat out stunk and it was the first time a Trotz team stopped competing. Stinks.

The Avalanche matching the ROR offer had more to do with ensuring other teams don't poach their future talent than it was about competing. I get that Roy is a better head coach but how does a team go from not even competing most nights and focusing more on Vegas trips than winning all of a sudden 13 games over .500 with the same roster? Stinks of a team that used last season to get a top player and blow up the coach to get the guy (Roy) that they wanted all along.

Carolina winning only 4 of their last 22 games? I get that they lost Ward but the Flames have been starting backup caliber goaltenders since the better part of last season and haven't been close to that bad and they have the Stahl brothers, Semin, Skinner, etc. No excuse for them to play as poorly as they did. Stinks.

I simply think some teams when they felt they were out of playoff contention used the shortened season as a chance to recoup a high draft pick to help turn things around.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Fozzie_DeBear

It should be pretty easy to see if the current system is effective in helping teams rebuild....there should be a correlation between top draft picks (in crappy seasons) leading to improved positions in subsequent seasons.

If you have the data you could see whether the system is actually effective in helping rebuild...I'd hypothesize that it isn't a strong correlation.

The problem with this is that to get a high draft pick you have to have inept management. the Flames were managed terribly for how long and they still can't get in the top 5. Most teams will eventually fire the problems... but if you're stuck with a terrible owner even a high draft pick can't save you from yourself.

[Tinordi]

This proposal sounds more like a solution looking for a problem.

Tanking really isn't a problem in the NHL.