Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images
By James Derrick — Editor
NBA owners must accept the newest draft lottery proposal to fix the league’s biggest problem — the incentive to lose.
On one of the last days of the NBA season, the Memphis Grizzlies played The Utah Jazz. Both teams lost double the number of games they won. One might think this game has no stakes. But it does.
The Grizzlies eye a better draft pick. To get it, they must lose. The six players who checked in for the Grizzlies that night appeared in just 74 games combined this season. The Grizzlies lost,147-101.
That loss, coupled with a Dallas Mavericks win over the Chicago Bulls, means Memphis jumped up two spots in the draft lottery — a tremendous success.
Teams lose on purpose, or tank, for a chance to draft a top player. In basketball, one pick can redirect an entire organization. Look at what the San Antonio Spurs have accomplished since drafting Victor Wembanyama first overall in 2023. That incentive created the Grizzlies-Jazz mess.
The NBA’s proposed 3-2-1 lottery system would fight it. The plan expands the lottery from 14 teams to 16 teams. Play-in losers receive one or two lottery balls. Teams in spots four through 10 receive three. The three worst teams receive only two, although they cannot fall past pick number 12.
Under this system, last-place teams gain less by losing. Middle lottery teams gain more by competing. Fans gain a better product.
Some fans argue that the proposal punishes bad teams. They have a point. The worst teams usually need the best prospects. But the current system does not simply help bad teams — it rewards them for becoming unwatchable. The NBA must help teams rebuild, not teach them to lose.
If owners accept the proposal, fans will not pay NBA prices to watch their favorite stars sit and teams quit. Last-place teams will scramble to win games at the end of the season — fixing the league’s biggest problem.
Kill the incentive to lose. Adopt the system.
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