tml@drupa.UUCP (Tim Larison) (08/14/85)
I don't think the NBA fixed the lottery so that the Knicks would get the number one pick. I think word of this would have leaked out and some teams would have screamed bloody murder. I hope the NBA has more integrity than to pull a stunt like that. My complaint is with the whole idea of a draft lottery. As I understand it, the NBA put in the lottery because the previous year Houston deliberately tried to lose some games at the end of the year in order to improve their draft position (and get a shot at Ralph Sampson). The lottery supposedly would eliminate this problem because the last seven teams draft position would be determined solely by chance, not by the team's record. So what happened? Last season teams like Seattle (in not playing Jack Sikma) deliberately tailed off at the end of the year in order to get in the lottery. The problem of teams sandbagging at the end of the year to improve their draft position got worse, not better. If you were a general manager of an NBA team, would you prefer your team to make the last slot in the playoffs, only to be eliminated quickly by the Lakers or Celtics, or would you rather have a shot at Patrick Ewing? I think the NBA should trash the lottery and go back to the old "worst record picks first" draft order. The Golden States of the league have enough problems without having to be discriminated against in the draft, too.
corcoran@h-sc1.UUCP (tom corcoran) (08/21/85)
> ...the NBA put in the lottery because the previous > year Houston deliberately tried to lose some games at the end > of the year in order to improve their draft position (and get > a shot at Ralph Sampson)... I think that the reason for the draft was also that they didn't want anyone to know exactly where the top draft choices were going to be. How many times in the past did you see very poor teams trading away their draft picks for some over the hill superstar? With the lottery, the teams that have these old superstars to unload are less willing to trade for something so uncertain. This leaves the picks with the poor teams which will hopefully give them the foundation to build upon. tom corcoran