Analysis : NBA Still Hasn’t Eliminated Controversy Over Draft Lottery

At the NBA meetings in Salt Lake City two years ago, Phoenix General Manager Jerry Colangelo came up with the idea for a draft lottery.

Colangelo, one of the league’s more progressive thinkers, thought the lottery would: 1) add excitement to the college draft; 2) eliminate the speculation that an NBA team might deliberately lose with hopes of claiming the No. 1 pick.

As NBA Lottery II approaches, it is clear the format has succeeded in the first instance and failed in the second.

The sight of then-New York General Manager Dave DeBusschere raising his fist when the Knicks were awarded the right to draft Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing was one of the more memorable moments of the NBA season.

The lottery was shown at halftime of a Celtics-76ers Eastern Conference championship game, and television ratings increased during the intermission.

According to Neilsen ratings, the game had a 7.5 rating, but that soared to 8.2 in the 2-2:30 p.m. EDT time slot--when the lottery was televised.

Clearly, this has become the most prominent halftime event since the electric show at the Orange Bowl.

However, the possibility remains that a team would lose on purpose to gain a favorable drafting position.

“Unfortunately, there is probably additional speculation regarding more teams, how they were playing and how they were playing people in the later stages,” says Colangelo, the Suns’ representative at today’s ceremony in New York.

Before the advent of the lottery, the worst team in each conference flipped a coin for the No. 1 pick. Perhaps four to five teams in all had a chance to finish last and gain a spot in the coin flip.

Now, seven teams have a chance for the top selection. And if you include teams in each conference that barely qualified for the playoffs, there could be as many as 11-12 clubs that might prefer to enter the lottery rather than the postseason.

Late in the season, Chicago star Michael Jordan accused the Bulls of keeping him out of the lineup so the team would miss the playoffs. And Suns Coach John MacLeod drew criticism when, with Phoenix still “battling” for a playoff berth, he used four rookies and a second-year player during the entire fourth quarter of a loss at Denver.

“One of the reasons speculation is raised (that a team will purposely lose),” Colangelo says, “is that a team that barely makes the playoffs is faced with playing the best team in the conference and has little chance.

“One way of eliminating that would be that the (playoff) matchups would be drawn--have a lottery for that. The teams with the four best records will not know who their opponents are until this new lottery.”

This would increase the incentive for a borderline team to make the playoffs. Under present playoff structuring, it’s the top team in the conference vs. the worst, No. 2 vs. No. 7, No. 3 vs. No. 6 and No. 4 vs. No. 5.

Under Colangelo’s proposal, “Team 1 would draw out of a hat. They may get 5, 6, 7 or 8. That’s one way of modifying the current system.”

Colangelo said he will suggest this alterative at the league meetings in Orlando, Fla., in September.

Another controversy surrounds the participation of powerhouse teams like Boston in the lottery. The Celtics are here this year after acquiring Seattle’s No. 1 pick.

“I don’t think you can take away anything from someone who has, through good management, picked up extra picks,” says Colangelo. “By the same token, all we can do to bring about more parity is in the best interests of the league. One of the negatives is we have disparity.

“I think teams which have acquired another team’s pick should not be allowed in the lottery. I feel certain that change will also be brought up (at the NBA meetings).”

The league has already announced a change in format for 1987. Next year, seven teams will participate in the lottery, but only three will draw picks. The next four clubs will receive the next four picks in inverse order based on record.

Last year, Golden State finished with the NBA’s worst record, then drew the worst lottery pick.