Subscribe
Follow Us
For teams that won’t be able to make it to the playoffs, their only consolation is knowing they’ll have a top pick in the draft, which could help them improve their roster to be more competitive in the succeeding season. However, the selections are not solely based on their win-loss records, but also on luck, as the lottery balls dictate the picks for the non-playoff teams.
For things to be more fair, Miami Heat president Pat Riley shared his two cents worth recently, via Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, in hopes of addressing the tanking issue of the league. He said that lottery-bound teams should play in a tournament for the right to select first overall, and how they fare in it would determine the draft order.
Riley on tanking, "What I'd like to have is a 2-out-of-3 lottery playoff . . . The lottery teams play a tournament for that [No. 1] pick."
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) July 10, 2017
Riley on that approach, "No more tanking at the end . . . so play for it. Let's have a little playoff for the top pick in the draft."
— Ira Winderman (@IraHeatBeat) July 10, 2017
The veteran front office executive does make a very interesting point, as it promotes having the best lineup possible all the time and eliminates tanking. Fans, and even players have not been happy with that strategy, and it also hurts the competitive nature of the NBA.
While Riley’s suggestion may seem like a stretch to happen, at least in the near future, the league office is certainly at better alternatives in determining draft orders and address tanking. Should it still continue and become an even bigger issue, it won’t be surprising if Adam Silver and company may need to resort to drastic measures in order to combat it right away.
