The NBA is seriously considering draft lottery reform that would bring about serious change. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski detailed the specifics of the potential changes.
Per Wojnarowski’s league sources, these changes, if passed, would come into effect for the 2019 draft.
Currently, the worst team in the lottery has a 25 percent chance at the top pick. The second-worst team has a 19.9 percent chance, and the third-worst team has a 15.6 percent chance.
With these new changes, each of the bottom three teams would have a 14 percent chance. Each of those three worst teams will also be able to fall further down in the lottery, says Wojnarowski; the worst team could drop to fifth and the second-worst could drop to sixth. Currently, the worst can only drop to fourth and the second-worst can only drop to fifth.
The bottom three teams all having even odds is quite a drastic change from the current structure; the goal here is to deincentivize tanking, and this is a good way to accomplish that goal.
The Board of Governors will vote on Sept. 28, reports Wojnarowski. The changes will need a two-thirds majority to pass.
