The 2017-2018 NBA season will be filled with intrigue as several superstar free agents decided to switch teams in the summer, shaking up the league’s competitive landscape. However, it may all be for naught as the Golden State Warriors look poised to repeat as NBA champions.
While the Warriors continue to dominate the league, the lower-tiered teams should be looking toward rebuilding through the draft. However, the NBA’s issue with tanking grows louder every year, forcing the league to look for a solution that has been hard to come by.
Recent reports stated the NBA would look at flattening lottery odds to dissuade teams from tanking, but according to Chris Mannix of The Vertical, a small-market team executive believes changes to the lottery system would ruin certain franchises:
“For one of these [small-market] teams, lottery reform will be a death sentence.”
Unless you are a team that plays in a large market, it is hard to acquire star-quality free agents in the offseason. Unless they are willing to part with multiple high-valued assets in a trade, a small-market team’s only shot at getting a superstar is through the draft. By reforming the lottery, the league would essentially lower those teams’ chances of nabbing a franchise-altering player.
Lottery reform is a conundrum that will likely take several years or more for the league to figure out. In the mean time, expect teams to continue tanking for a shot at a superstar.
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