Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
The league’s proposal gives at least the four worst teams the same chance at winning the no. 1 pick: approximately an identical 11 percent shot for each club. The odds decline slowly from there, with the team in the next spot holding a 10 percent chance. The lottery team with the best record will have a 2 percent chance of leaping to the no. 1 pick, up from the the minuscule 0.5 percent chance it has under the current system.
The proposal also calls for the drawing of the first six picks via the Ping-Pong ball lottery, sources say. The current lottery system actually involves the drawing of only the top three selections. The rest of the lottery goes in order of record, from worst to best, after the top-three drawing is over.
The goal of this initial proposal is obvious: to prevent out-and-out tanking among the league’s very worst teams for the no. 1 pick. Equalizing the odds for the five worst teams, and giving the next few clubs odds very close to that 11 percent chance, goes a long way toward removing the incentive to race toward the bottom.
Start paying attention to draft lottery stories because the Celtics are going back there next season.
All this proposal does is reduce the need for the embarrassing tank jobs (Philadelphia). But it might increase the tanking done by back end lottery teams to get into that top 4 or fringe playoff teams who would rather take a 2 percent chance at the #1 pick than a sweep at the hands of the Cavaliers.
The bigger problem here is competitive integrity. What other professional sports league has to routinely deal with tanking? The NFL gave us Suck for Luck, but that was a one year wonder.
Rather than even the odds at the bottom, how about increasing the incentive to make the playoffs? Can’t the league restructure its revenue sharing to benefit franchises that make the playoffs? Or some type of payout based on wins. If you want the owners to eliminate tanking, talk the only language they know – $$$.
On Page 2, Vitor is rehabbing his knee.
Now that free agency has died down and the Celtics are apparently out of the running for Kevin Love, this is the kind of Celtics coverage you can expect.
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – Tracking the Brooklyn haul | NBC Sports – Wolves prefer Thompson to Wiggins | ESPN – Cavs OK Wiggins, Bennett in deal
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