Poison pill strategy
But the “fixes” are like taking huge doses of poison for a common cold. It all dilutes or outright destroys the competitive balance of the NBA. If you don’t know what I mean, consider the fact that two of the NBA’s most successful teams, the Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Lakers, are now competing for high draft picks.
Sir Charles In Charge
How does this happen? And how can it be prevented?
Let’s face facts. The entire focus of “how do we fix the lottery” is aiming at the wrong goal. The goal is how to improve the competitiveness of lower performing teams in the NBA, without incentives to compel those teams to make tactical decisions to perform poorly?
So what drives the rush to be bad? Is it truly “tanking”?
Teams don’t tank, they aim at the future
No. Despite all the hot take media decrying of teams trying to improve from a barren wasteland of the NBA basement, the athletes and coaches have only one thing in mind – winning. There is no reward for the players to fail on the basketball court. And ultimately, the game outcome is decided by the players.
When the NBA “gets it”, the true fix can begin.
The NBA has not adequately addressed the development of raw but talented players. For years, the only strategy available to many teams is the draft and stash approach of selecting a player known to be under contract internationally. It has been the only “rights retained” approach to the process of securing future talent.