NBA's New Draft Lottery Rules Should Benefit the Pelicans

The NBA finally passed anti-tanking measures on Thursday to fix the competitive spirit of the league. In recent years, losing intentionally to maximize draft odds has reached new levels, with almost a third of the league tanking in one way or another last season. So, the league's board of governors voted almost unanimously to change the draft lottery format, which will hopefully disincentivize teams from tanking.

The new lottery rules may seem complicated at first, and they may have unintended consequences. Whether it will entirely solve the problem remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: it will benefit the New Orleans Pelicans.

The new format penalizes the bottom-three teams in the league, lowering their chances of earning the top pick in the draft to 5.4% each. If you finish with one of the three worst records that season, you have the same odds of winning the first-overall pick as the teams that finish with 11th to 14th-worst records.

The highest odds to secure the top pick belong to teams that finish between fourth and tenth worst records. Those have an 8.1% chance of winning the No. 1 overall pick.

These flattened odds reward teams that are bad but not horrible.

Pelicans Will Finally Be Rewarded for Keeping Their Core Together

That is where the New Orleans Pelicans belong. New Orleans has tried to stay competitive and chase a postseason spot over the last several years. They have miserably failed to do so, but they have avoided finishing with one of the worst records in the league.

In each of the last two seasons, the Pelicans would have been tied for the best odds to win the top pick in the draft under new rules.

This reform incentivizes teams like the Pelicans who want to stay competitive and make the Play-In Tournament. Teams that lose in the Play-In still get a 5.4% chance at the top pick, and teams that make the playoffs as the No. 8 seed have a 2.7% shot at the first-overall pick.

This means that the Pelicans can keep their core together, chase a postseason spot, and still get a chance at a top draft pick.

Another benefit to the Pelicans is this: teams are no longer able to pick first overall in back-to-back years and will not be allowed to have a top-five pick for three consecutive years. The Pelicans haven't had a top-five pick recently, so they will have an advantage in the lottery over teams that have selected in the top five in the past two seasons.

Before the rule changes, the Pelicans were in the worst of both worlds. They wanted to keep their veterans, but they weren't good enough to make the postseason. Teams like these used to be punished as their chances of landing a top pick were low.

Now, the Pelicans can continue on their pursuit of mediocrity and actually get rewarded for it.

Add us as a preferred source on Google