Draft Lotto Thread (2025 edition)

One positive about this is the Hornets are probably going to be bad next year and we have their second round pick in a loaded draft. Talent wise, that pick might end up having first round value.
 

So yeah, I know they did this to prevent teams from just tanking like the process Sixers but as a result, we’ve now seen random play-in teams move up to first overall twice in a row.
I think that’s the point. Couple years of beating up on the worst team in the league and all of a sudden people might stop whining about the need for the lottery and except an end to the draft in general. I’m not saying I’m in favor of that. I’m just saying that the league and big teams would like nothing better.
 
The 1st round is best of 3. This also means getting rid of the stupid play in. We already had more than 50% of teams make the playoffs. Now it’s basically 60%. Absolutely ridiculous.

Make divisions MATTER.
The reason first round is best of 7 is because the league was unhappy with top seeds being upset and wanted less of it.
 
As long as the NBA continues to employ the lottery system they will always be open to conspiracy theories and the mere appearance of impropriety.

I understand the desire to dissuade teams from intentional tanking, but the trade off of play-in/playoff caliber teams having any chance of landing these valuable picks is a bad thing.

A good start IMO is to disallow teams outside the bottom 5 the opportunity at those top picks. They thought the low odds of the bottom half of the lottery, specifically those in the 10-14 positions, would be enough— but it isn’t. Those teams odds at the top couple picks should be 0%.

I’d say the same had the KINGS landed the #1 pick today. It’s just a broken system.
 
As long as the NBA continues to employ the lottery system they will always be open to conspiracy theories and the mere appearance of impropriety.

I understand the desire to dissuade teams from intentional tanking, but the trade off of play-in/playoff caliber teams having any chance of landing these valuable picks is a bad thing.

A good start IMO is to disallow teams outside the bottom 5 the opportunity at those top picks. They thought the low odds of the bottom half of the lottery, specifically those in the 10-14 positions, would be enough— but it isn’t. Those teams odds at the top couple picks should be 0%.

I’d say the same had the KINGS landed the #1 pick today. It’s just a broken system.
I disagree with this. League should disincentivize tanking. Make all teams equal chance. Let the worst team fall to 14. hell put the play-in teams 7 & 8 in there as well to make fighting for that play in spot even more compelling.

The West/East imbalance is so f'd right now the bottom 7 and 8 seeds in the West need far more help then 11 and 12 in the East at being competitive (Charlotte and Washington apparently are just happy to be in the Association).
 
This is exactly why you can't reliably tank. The odds are against "tanking for the top pick" and some horrible teams got pushed aside for a possible franchise changing player by a team that was in the play in.

I'm not going to disagree. I hate tanking. I severely dislike Dallas, but I hate tanking.



There's some truth to this. With the lottery odds the way they are you can't reliably tank for a top pick for that "franchise" player. The odds are too flat to do that. The worst team in the league expects to pick around 3-4, if I remember correctly (and I'm too lazy to look it up again for the exact number). You might get a good player (or draft a bust), but if you are aiming for a Cooper Flagg, you can't feel good about even being within several picks of #1.
I think a huge difference exists between tanking all season and winning pointless games after the all star break.
 
I think a huge difference exists between tanking all season and winning pointless games after the all star break.
I will just cite this as another reason to get rid of all lottery odds and do a straight up draw.

Teams pulling this crap also upset the competitive balance of the standings of teams fighting for seeding. And it forces fans who haven't just quit on their team to root for losses.
 
I will just cite this as another reason to get rid of all lottery odds and do a straight up draw.

Teams pulling this crap also upset the competitive balance of the standings of teams fighting for seeding. And it forces fans who haven't just quit on their team to root for losses.
Every other sport is fine allowing their worst teams to draft first. Other wise just sell off all your smaller market teams and add large market teams in Europe.
 
Every other sport is fine allowing their worst teams to draft first. Other wise just sell off all your smaller market teams and add large market teams in Europe.
Basketball isn’t like any other sport when it comes to the impact of a single 2-3x a decade talent let alone a generational one.
 
Is it just me or does this summer seem more hopeless than previous years. Monte really left the cupboards bare. No 1st round pick and only one mid-2nd round pick.

Monte really did a pee poor job in drafting, which is essential for a small market teams to succeed. The one guy that showed flashes of being a franchise type player (Haliburton), he trades away and he lucked into Keegan, who hasn't progressed offensively the way we all hoped. All the other drafts he doesn't really have anything to show for them.

I guess that's why Monte was fired. He never should had made that stupid trade for Huerter and needed to be a better drafter. He wasted all of his 2nd round picks or dumped them for nothing.

Unless Perry can pull some magic out of his hat, the Kings don't have much ways of improving this roster. :(:(
 
Is it just me or does this summer seem more hopeless than previous years. Monte really left the cupboards bare. No 1st round pick and only one mid-2nd round pick.

Monte really did a pee poor job in drafting, which is essential for a small market teams to succeed. The one guy that showed flashes of being a franchise type player (Haliburton), he trades away and he lucked into Keegan, who hasn't progressed offensively the way we all hoped. All the other drafts he doesn't really have anything to show for them.

I guess that's why Monte was fired. He never should had made that stupid trade for Huerter and needed to be a better drafter. He wasted all of his 2nd round picks or dumped them for nothing.

Unless Perry can pull some magic out of his hat, the Kings don't have much ways of improving this roster. :(:(
We have everything including a Spurs pick in 2 years and a Minnesota pick when they are likely to be post-Ant. If you wanted a magic turnaround next season it doesn't seem very likely but we control our own future for better or worse from here on out.
 
We have everything including a Spurs pick in 2 years and a Minnesota pick when they are likely to be post-Ant. If you wanted a magic turnaround next season it doesn't seem very likely but we control our own future for better or worse from here on out.
Yeah, but San Antonio just got #2 and have Wemby coming back and Castle and Fox. Don't be so sure Ant bolts Minnesota. If they continue to challenge for the NBA Finals every year, he may stick around. We may be looking at low 1st round picks in from SA and Minnesota those years. Not to mention that pick swap with SA that looks even worse after the lottery today. :(
 
Yeah, but San Antonio just got #2 and have Wemby coming back and Castle and Fox. Don't be so sure Ant bolts Minnesota. If they continue to challenge for the NBA Finals every year, he may stick around. We may be looking at low 1st round picks in from SA and Minnesota those years. Not to mention that pick swap with SA that looks even worse after the lottery today. :(
Yeah but the point is we have a lot more assets than all but the teams that sold off all their talent and we also have talent we can sell over the next two seasons if/when it becomes clear that it is hopeless.

For the first time since Vivek bought this team, we may actually not have a young talent on this team that flashes "superstar potential" that you are trying to sell on a long term future here. And that could actually lead to him throwing in the towel. Which he actually did do in 2017 which immediately lead to Fox and the opportunity to draft second the following year which we blew.
 
Yeah, but San Antonio just got #2 and have Wemby coming back and Castle and Fox. Don't be so sure Ant bolts Minnesota. If they continue to challenge for the NBA Finals every year, he may stick around. We may be looking at low 1st round picks in from SA and Minnesota those years. Not to mention that pick swap with SA that looks even worse after the lottery today. :(

Ya Minnesota is about to go back to back WCF appearance and they’re GM is elite post Ant is fantasy talk as of now
 
I disagree with this. League should disincentivize tanking. Make all teams equal chance. Let the worst team fall to 14. hell put the play-in teams 7 & 8 in there as well to make fighting for that play in spot even more compelling.

The West/East imbalance is so f'd right now the bottom 7 and 8 seeds in the West need far more help then 11 and 12 in the East at being competitive (Charlotte and Washington apparently are just happy to be in the Association).

Why can’t a balance be struck?

There are 14 non-playoff teams. They don’t ALL have to have a shot at the top pick, or even top 3 picks.

With 5-7 teams still being in the mix for #1, especially if the odds are the same, it would greatly diminish tanking as there’s no benefit to having the absolute worst record. While you may have some teams angling for bottom 5-7 at some point during the season, it wouldn’t be near as overt or egregious. Or even guaranteed.

All I know is, teams 10-14 shouldn’t have any chance at #1. That’s just stupid. A team as talented as the Mavs being handed the #1 pick is the poster child example of a broken system. Same thing happened with Orlando in 1993. 22 years later the NBA’s lottery system is just a broken as it was then.
 
Yeah, but San Antonio just got #2 and have Wemby coming back and Castle and Fox. Don't be so sure Ant bolts Minnesota. If they continue to challenge for the NBA Finals every year, he may stick around. We may be looking at low 1st round picks in from SA and Minnesota those years. Not to mention that pick swap with SA that looks even worse after the lottery today. :(
That pick swap and Wolves pick are in six years. That is an eternity in NBA time.

The unprotected Spurs pick in 2027 could be a low first round pick but it’s also two years away so who knows what the Spurs actually look like in two seasons with Mitch Johnson running the show instead of the greatest coach of all time. (Wemby also had to have surgery for his DVT because the blood thinners didn’t do the trick so who knows how that situation pans out long term).
 
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