Front-Runner has Reportedly Emerged for NBA Draft Reform

The NBA Draft has been a major subject of discussion over the course of the NBA season. Not only because it’s set to be the most loaded in years — offering up talents like AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, Caleb Wilson and Darryn Peterson — but also how it’s affected the season as a whole.

The league saw several teams position themselves for the draft opposed to the postseason this year, most notably the Pacers, Jazz, Grizzlies and Mavericks, with teams such as Washington, Brooklyn, Sacramento and more landing near the top of the reverse standings naturally.

In an effort to curb artificial losing efforts, the league has started the process to try and reform the draft, which has taken form in meetings and proposals over the last few months.

Per The Athletic’s Sam Amick, one proposal is clawing its way to the front. In late-March, three anti-tanking proposals were submitted to the league, and per Amick, option No. 1 is the “heavy front-runner.”

That would increase the number of lottery teams from the current 14 to 18, and would give the bottom 10 teams an even 8% chance at landing the top pick. The remaining 20% of odds would be divided among the remaining eight teams.

It would be a drastic diversion from the current system, which gives teams lesser odds in descending order, starting with a 14% chance at the top pick for the worst three teams.

Per Amick, tweaks are still expected to be made to the current proposal, though Option No. 1 is currently the favorite and likely to win out. At least 23 of the current 30 owners would need to give it the green light at next months’ Board of Governors meeting.

The biggest problem with the proposed option is moving from artificially bad teams to legitimately bad teams, which could happen with lessened lottery luck each year. For now, teams are positioning themselves for better odds with slightly better talent level, though the proposed option guarantee that the worst teams get the top players, which should likely be the goal.

With that, teams could continuously get lesser talent by falling at the lottery, making it hard to acquire the top picks and thus accelerate rebuilds.

“You should assume for next season your only incentive will be to win games,” Silver reportedly said during the call.

The league will continue to talk through things in a collaborative manner, starting with another call on Tuesday.

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