A simple plan to stop tanking in the NBA..

The bottom-tier teams in the NBA have more incentive to lose than to win late in the season. Here’s how to change it.

The Sixers and Pelicans played Monday night in a game where both fanbases were justified in hoping for a loss rather than a win. The Raptors and Wizards played under similar circumstances. That’s because the NBA draft lottery incentivizes the league’s bottom-feeders to lose rather than win as disappointing seasons wind down.

Better to increase the odds of landing a potential superstar than worry about “meaningless” games down the stretch, right? Makes total sense in the current system, which is why the current system needs to change.

If you want to make sure that teams keep competing, you must take away any possible reward for losing games.

Here’s a simple plan for how to do just that:

A 30-pick draft lottery where every team who owns a first-round pick has the exact same odds for every pick. If this system were in place for the 2025 draft, the Thunder and Celtics would have the same chances at Cooper Flagg as the Wizards and Jazz.
If a team has multiple first-round picks, it has more chances in that 30-pick lottery.
The picks would be drawn in reverse order, just as the draft lottery works now. So, pick No. 30 would be drawn first, then pick No. 29, etc.
Protected draft picks would convey in the same fashion they do now. If the 30-pick system were in place this year, here’s how the Sixers’ top-6 protected pick would work: It would go to Oklahoma City if the Sixers’ pick landed anywhere between picks No. 7 and 30. If it ended up in the top six, the Sixers would keep it.
Here are some of the benefits of a 30-pick draft lottery:

There is no benefit to losing games. None. You have as much chance at getting the No. 1 pick if you have the best record as you do with the worst record. We’d get more competitive rosters and more competitive games late in seasons because teams won’t have any incentive to lose.
Ending up in the middle of the pack is no longer a franchise death sentence. The whole point of the Sixers’ “Process” was that a middling team would never get access to elite talent. Under the system that was in place, a mediocre team trading away its best players with the goal of finishing at the bottom of the standings was a completely reasonable strategy. But in a 30-pick lottery, that method of team building is no longer viable.
It could be a lot more fun to see top rookie talent go to successful franchises rather than struggling ones. Was it bad for the NBA when Larry Bird and Magic Johnson went to the Celtics and Lakers? Personally, I think it would have been interesting to have Victor Wembanyama on a playoff team right away and see how that might have altered the landscape.
The 30-pick lottery would be one of the most exciting nights on the NBA calendar. Imagine every fan tuning in knowing their team had a 1-in-30 chance of landing a talent like Flagg or Wembanyama.
I’m already envisioning some of the counterarguments to a 30-pick lottery, so let me address a few of them:

Daryl Morey Faces Tough Decision on ‘Bright Spot’ for Sixers..

uerschon Yabusele has been a rare bright spot in a disastrous season for the Philadelphia 76ers. Daryl Morey added the powerful forward after he impressed for France at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Yabusele signed a one-year veteran minimum deal with Philadelphia. As such, he will enter unrestricted free agency in the summer. According to Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, Yabusele will likely cost ‘some or all’ of the Sixers mid-level exception if they look to retain him in the summer.

“Guerschon Yabusele has been one of their few bright spots this season. He signed a one-year, veteran-minimum contract with the Sixers after his breakout run at the 2024 Olympics last summer,” Pincus wrote. “Philly probably needs to use some or all of its mid-level exception to keep him beyond this year. The good news is that Quentin Grimes, whom the Sixers acquired before the trade deadline from the Dallas Mavericks, will be a restricted free agent. Philadelphia can and should match offers to retain him.”

Morey is expected to be busy rebuilding the Sixers’ supporting cast during the summer. As such, Yabusele may be deemed too expensive by the front office. Therefore, the impressive forward could find himself signing with a different team around the league, making him a legitimate flight risk for the Sixers.

Sixers’ Paul George Called Out for Chasing Money
Paul George was the Sixers’ marquee addition this summer. The veteran forward signed a four-year $212 million contract with the franchise. According to Gilbert Arenas, George joined Philadelphia’s roster due to the money and not because he believed in the basketball project.

“What went wrong? Preseason, maybe an emotional departure,” Arenas said. “$160 million to lose in the Western Conference Finals or $212 million to not make the playoffs? When you start off with bad energy, it ends with bad energy.”

George has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. He is working with doctors to find a solution to persistent knee and groin issues. However, even when healthy, George has under-delivered for the Sixers. In 41 outings, he averaged 16.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists, hardly a strong return on investment from the aging forward.

Sixers’ Could Begin a Rebuild With Kon Knueppel
According to a March 19 mock draft from The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie, the Sixers could acquire Duke guard Kon Knueppel with the sixth pick in the upcoming draft.

“Knueppel was one of the players who helped himself most in the conference tournament cycle, leading Duke without Flagg,” Vecenie wrote. “In the team’s three ACC tournament games, he averaged 21 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists. He showed executives he can be both a strong off-ball scorer and a potentially interesting on-ball player who can dribble, pass and shoot. He’s a terrific shooter, having hit 39 percent from 3 on nearly six 3-point attempts per game.”

A guard rotation of Tyrese Maxey, Quentin Grimes and Knueppel would be a solid trio, capable of improving in the coming years and becoming a core part of the team’s immediate and long-term future. Of course, the Sixers must finish within the top-six of the draft lottery in order to retain their pick, otherwise, it will default to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Still, if the Sixers are making a selection on draft night, Knueppel would be a smart path forward, especially if Daryl Morey has one eye on a full-scale rebuild.