Report: Draft lottery reform proposal voted down
A proposal to change the NBA draft lottery system was rejected during a meeting of the league's Board of Governors, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reports.
Wojnarowski reports the vote was 17-13 in favor, which was short of the 23 "yes" votes needed to change the system. The vote contrasted a report earlier this month that lottery reform had broad support among the league's owners.
There have been calls for changes to the current system amid concerns about teams tanking for better odds at a high lottery pick. In the current system, the team with the worst record has a 25 percent chance at the top pick with the odds decreasing until the team with the best record in the lottery has a 0.5 percent chance.
The 14 teams who do not make the NBA playoffs are the teams in the NBA lottery.
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The proposal called for the bottom-four teams to have an 11 percent chance at the No. 1 pick. It also would have increased the odds for the teams with better records.
Wojnarowski reported the teams that voted against the proposal.
The Philadelphia 76ers have been heavily criticized for alleged tanking. In 2013, they used the No. 6 pick on Nerlens Noel, who missed the entire season with a torn ACL. This past June they drafted Joel Embiid at No. 3, and he is out indefinitely with a foot injury. The 76ers have repeatedly denied tanking.
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