The NBA has found itself embroiled in a major controversy recently with multiple figures around the league, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, being arrested for alleged involvement in illegal gambling activities. The chargers have brought the league's relationship with various sportsbooks under even more scrutiny and continued to call into question the integrity of the game.
Recently, Bob Voulgaris, former director of quantitative research and development for the Dallas Mavericks, stopped by “Pablo Torre Finds Out” to discuss how he thinks the league can eliminate some of the gray area that may raise suspicions from fans about players gambling on themselves, including in situations like tanking for the draft lottery, which at times causes star players to miss games.
“There is several ways. You can just make the draft 100% random, that’s one way. That’s not the most sophisticated way. You can do the wheel where every team is guaranteed a spot every 30 years. That’s more equitable,” said Voulgaris.
He also proposed a new method for rookies entering the league.
“You could make every rookie a free agent with a hard cap. Why not just give these kids the ability to go wherever they want and make the salary cap hard. A hard salary cap with no salary limit on individual players, but a hard cap similar to other sports,” he said.
A big scandal for the NBA
Whatever solution the NBA chooses to pursue, they've certainly got a big mess on their hands with this latest gambling scandal, which isn't the first to rock the league in recent years. It wasn't that long ago that Toronto Raptors big man Jontay Porter was banished from the league for a similar allegation, and Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley found himself at the center of an investigation this summer, and remains unsigned two weeks into the season.
Overall, for a league that claims to put the integrity of the game above all else, things certainly could be looking brighter.
