The NBA "submitted an official proposal to reform" the Draft Lottery this week, and the league is "in favor of a revised weighting system that shifts each team’s odds of getting the top pick," according to sources cited by Zach Lowe of GRANTLAND. Sources said that the proposal is "essentially an attempt to squeeze the lottery odds at either extreme toward a more balanced system in which all 14 teams have a relatively similar chance at the no. 1 pick." Under the current system, the team with the worst record has a 25% chance of "snagging the no. 1 pick." The final five teams in the lottery have a 1.1% "or worse chance of moving up to no. 1." The league’s proposal "gives at least the four worst teams the same chance at winning the no. 1 pick: approximately an identical" 11% shot for each club. The lottery team with the "best record" will have a 2% chance of landing the top pick. Sources said that the proposal also "calls for the drawing of the first six picks via the Ping-Pong ball lottery." The current system "actually involves the drawing of only the top three selections." The league could "implement lottery reform as early as next season, though there are many hurdles to overcome before then." The goal of this proposal is to "prevent out-and-out tanking among the league’s very worst teams" (GRANTLAND.com, 7/16).
AS THE WORLD TOURNEYS: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver this week said that the league is considering a mid-season tournament in Las Vegas, and ESPN's Israel Gutierrez said while he liked the idea, players "can't hold up to that" schedule unless Silver is going to "take away games away in the regular season. But Gutierrez noted team owners will not be OK with that "because you're taking money out of their pockets." Gutierrez: "We've seen these teams that go deep in the playoffs for so many years in a row, these guys breakdown. The last thing you want to do is add more games for them." Denver Post columnist Woody Paige called it a "ridiculous" idea and said, "You have too many opportunities to have guys hurt. You have too many opportunities for people to go, 'What in the hell is this all about?'" ESPN's Tony Reali said, "The idea is to borrow from the FA Cup and Copa del Rey. I'd love to see a Champions League. Basketball is played all over the world" ("Around The Horn," ESPN, 7/16). ESPN's Tony Kornheiser said, "I would love at some point, but not in the middle of the season, to see great American teams play great teams from Argentina, from Spain, from Italy." But he noted Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban "doesn't even want his players to play in the Olympics." ESPN's Michael Wilbon said, "Everybody now is trying to gear questions to the aftermath of a great World Cup tournament and will turn to every commissioner and say, 'What can you do like soccer?' You don't need to do a damn thing like soccer. You're ahead of soccer in this country" ("PTI," ESPN, 7/16). Meanwhile, CBSSPORTS.com's Matt Moore wrote Las Vegas as the location is "both the best idea ever and the worst idea ever." It is the "best idea because it's a place that players want to spend time; they'll embrace the idea of attending it there." But it is the "worst idea because the NBA's All-Star Weekend in Vegas was a disaster on multiple levels." Outside of the "off-court incidents that occurred, there's at least a perception that the city wasn't keen on the event" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/16).
