Representatives for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers were standing on a stage in New York last week waiting for franchise-altering news.
One of these three teams was going to win the No. 1 pick for this summer's draft in the NBA Draft Lottery. They just needed some luck from the ping-pong balls. Milwaukee, whose 15-67 record was the worst in the league, had the best chance of landing the first overall pick. They tried to take advantage of a weak Eastern Conference by signing a few average players and sneaking into the eighth seed. But, as their record shows, the plan did not work.
Philadelphia was the second-worst team in the NBA. Many pundits believed the Sixers traded most of their quality players to throw the season away for the chance to pick one of Joel Embiid, Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker. Close, but no cigar.
Then, there's Cleveland. They have a fantastic young point guard in Kyrie Irving and acquired Luol Deng from Chicago and Spencer Hawes from Philadelphia in order to sneak into the playoffs. The Cavs didn't quite get there and had only a 1.7 per cent chance of taking home the No. 1 pick.
Then, the ping-pong balls spoke. Cleveland won the lottery and received their second straight No. 1 pick in the NBA draft. It was also their third time selecting first in four years. It will be the fifth time Cleveland has picked in the top four since 2011.
It's not Cleveland's fault. They are taking advantage of a broken system. However, it is rewarding the futility of a Cavs franchise. In their run at the top of the draft, Cleveland picked only one potential superstar in Irving at No. 1 during the 2011 draft. Anthony Bennett, last year's No. 1 pick, failed to impress in his first season and was only the fifth No. 1 pick to miss the NBA's All-Rookie team since 1988. Tristan Thompson, the fourth overall pick in 2011, has stayed steady at 11.7 points and nine rebounds per game in his three seasons in the league. Being picked fourth comes with higher performance expectations. Dion Waiters was probably the second-best player picked during this span, but he has feuded with Irving in the backcourt. That isn't the chemistry you want with your best two players.
If you draw parallels to the NHL, teams that usually get multiple top-five picks in drafts rebound fairly quickly if they make the proper selection. From 2002 to 2006, Pittsburgh selected in the top five of the draft. Their selections of Marc-André Fleury, Ryan Whitney, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jodran Staal led them to a Stanley Cup in 2009. Similarly, the Chicago Blackhawks used back-to-back years drafting in to the top three to come away with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, instantly revitalizing the Original Six franchise.
The Cleveland method of futility can be closely compared to the Edmonton Oilers. While this team has perennially finished near or at the bottom of the Western Conference, they haven't made the most of their picks. With three straight No. 1 picks, Edmonton picked up Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov. While good offensive talents, the Oilers have no help on their blue line, effecting the balance of their team. Sure they can score, but they can't stop anyone. With one of those top picks, they should have picked a defenseman that will patrol their blue line for the next 10 years.
But the difference between the two scenarios is the talent on the Cavaliers has moved them into the back end of the lottery. There are teams that need the higher selection to improve their team. So, how can the NBA improve their draft lottery?
One way would to be take a cue from the NHL draft lottery after the lockout. The league can still have everyone in the lottery, but allow them to only move up a certain number of spots. For example, the NHL said a team can only move up five spots. If the NBA adopted that scenario, the Cavaliers would be picking fourth instead of first. Milwaukee and Philadelphia would stay No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. Sure, it would encourage teams to purposely fall into the bottom five of the league. But after two times in the top five, teams should have the talent to be competitive.
Another suggestion that was put forth by Bill Simmons of ESPN and Grantland would be to restrict how many times you can win the lottery in a certain time frame. He suggested that a team can only win the lottery once every four years. In Cleveland's case this year, they would have been stuck at No. 9 with no chance to move up. He also suggested no team can get two top-three picks in three years. Again, Cleveland would have stayed at No. 9, while the Orlando Magic would be forced out of the top three. This would force teams to try to not tank as they will not be rewarded.
This also leads to a greater penalty for teams that pick the wrong player in the draft. It's not the league's fault they screwed up their selection. General mangers who say their losing is all part of a rebuilding strategy will have to think of new plans. Stop giving them excuses for losing. All they have to do is drop the word rebuilding and they are given three years of job security.
The lottery system needs to change. It's failing teams that try to run good organizations without success. It needs to stop rewarding teams for bad decisions on draft day.
