My NBA anti-tanking proposal

[danglertx]

I hate tanking but I think I've figured out a clever way to punish perennial losers without overly punishing a good fan base for teams who have come on hard times.  It comes in two parts, the first is directed at the owners and the second at the team, (sort of.)

The first is for the lottery teams to lose national tv money after consecutive sub 500 (or you could lessen the amount to sub .333 winning teams or any amount that seems reasonable.)  This hits some of the owners where it hurts so they try harder.  It also will help push out bad owners.  Maybe you make it three consecutive years, the numbers can change but the idea is you hurt the owners by costing them money.

The second is by having consecutive non-playoff seasons players on that team are granted an opt-out clause with possible contracts they can sign matching what they have now at a percentage that is in line with how bad their teams were.

We can call the teams lottery teams but there wouldn't be a lottery, worst team gets first pick.  But their players CAN all opt out of their contracts at a certain penalty to sign with another team for the same amount of years. 

So lets say the worst team was the Sixers, Noel could opt out of his contract and sign a similar contract with another team at a penalty of say 5%.  Could be 10%.  Whatever the number is that dissuades people from leaving unless it is a particularly bad situation but enough so that players WILL leave if teams are bad for long enough.  Maybe you make it for players who have 2 or 3 years of service only.

Then the second worst team is in the same situation only their players can leave at a 10% or 15% penalty.  The third worst a 15% or 20% penalty and on and on.  Teams that either made the playoffs or hit a certain winning % would be immune.

This way teams that are trying to game the system and really punishing their fans because you don't know if it will ever work out, might get a great player or they might keep losing great players who don't want to keep losing.  There would be incentive to winning in that you wouldn't lose any of your players, although most would probably stay anyway for the money.

[Denis998]

So the worst teams are gong to get fined, and loose their players. Never ending hole. And why would the owners punish themselves. Let the teams tank, you cant punish them for being bad.

[slamtheking]

TP for a different approach to the issue (at least I haven't seen it before).

no way owners would ever approve costing themselves money.

have to admit I like my previously proposed idea better--> team winning the lottery is prevented from winning it again (or getting a top 3 pick) for 3 years.  teams getting a second or third pick have a one years moratorium from getting a top 3 pick.  teams missing the playoffs again after getting a top 3 pick would be put in the selection order based on their record compared to the other teams not getting a top 3 pick

[Denis998]

There is a fine line between tanking, rebuilding, and just plain bad front office. Take last few seasons for example, who were tanking, rebuilding, and just bad? Milwaukee, Philly, and New York.

[D.o.s.]

So the worst teams are gong to get fined, and loose their players. Never ending hole. And why would the owners punish themselves. Let the teams tank, you cant punish them for being bad.

There is a fine line between tanking, rebuilding, and just plain bad front office. Take last few seasons for example, who were tanking, rebuilding, and just bad? Milwaukee, Philly, and New York.

Well said.

[Csfan1984]

TP for a different approach to the issue (at least I haven't seen it before).

no way owners would ever approve costing themselves money.

have to admit I like my previously proposed idea better--> team winning the lottery is prevented from winning it again (or getting a top 3 pick) for 3 years.  teams getting a second or third pick have a one years moratorium from getting a top 3 pick.  teams missing the playoffs again after getting a top 3 pick would be put in the selection order based on their record compared to the other teams not getting a top 3 pick

I had the idea of if in top 3 out 3 years but this is far more in depth. I dont think playoffs should matter. You could "draft cap" the years to be harsher on multiple years of tanking. Like after getting a top 3 pick you are out of top 10 next year no matter the record. 2nd year out of the top 5  no matter the record. And then last year out of top three no matter the record. Year four then can freely get any pick.

[PhoSita]

Fix tanking by lowering the incentive to tank.

Remove the factors that make it possible to say, "Dang, I wish my team had lost the last ten games of the season instead of sneaking into the playoffs."

Don't punish bad teams.  Decreasee the distance between the reward for being God-awful and the "reward" for being halfway-decent.

[PhoSita]

Imagine that instead of the current way the lottery works, the following were the system:


The lottery drawing now determines the top 6 spots instead of the top 3.

The bottom 4 teams are guaranteed a top 10 pick (the building block of a rebuild).  If you have the worst record, the worst you can get is the 7th pick.  It is very unlikely that this will happen, but it's possible.

The teams that enjoyed home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs pick at the end of the first round, with the very best record selecting the last pick (#30). 

This goes hand in hand with no longer giving a seeding advantage to division winners, which starts next year.

Spots 5 through 22 in the league-wide rankings have a gradually decreasing chance to move up.  The teams in the late teens and early twenties have a small but not insignificant chance to get into the top 6.


In short:

Don't screw over bad teams.  Bad teams can only get better by enjoying a pipeline of young talent.  At the same time, don't screw over semi-decent teams.  Don't make fans feel like they have to choose between rooting for wins now or rooting for wins later. 

Making the playoffs as a middle of the road team shouldn't be a bad thing.  Being absolutely abysmal shouldn't have such an awesome silver lining as it does now.

[Moranis]

I don't understand why tanking is a problem for people. 

[PhoSita]

I don't understand why tanking is a problem for people.

Because of the following calculus:

1. I want my team to be good.  Not just decent, but really good.

2. I don't want to root for my team to lose, or trade away decent players for no good reason.

3. I just watched my team make the playoffs and get swept, while some other team stopped trying in late February and got a top 10 pick.

4. My team just selected a guy who will be lucky to enjoy a 5-6 year career on the bench while the team that missed the playoffs got a potential difference maker.

5. I can't escape the feeling that making the playoffs was a really bad thing for my team.  This stinks.

[Csfan1984]

The most extreme and 100% effective way to get rid of tanking was purposed on a certain site. Abolish the draft! It was absolutely correct if the players were all FAs  $, team fit and destination determined the prize. No team would tank.

Of course NBA already has a rookie salary peak  of the #1 pick. All you have to do is double that amount give it to every team and you would tell them this is your rookie max total so you can't sign all the rookies. I actually wouldn't mind the approach seems very player friendly. You can throw all the $ at the best prospect just as teams do in FA. Or you can divide it up and get a few guys.

[Csfan1984]

I don't understand why tanking is a problem for people.

Because of the following calculus:

1. I want my team to be good.  Not just decent, but really good.

2. I don't want to root for my team to lose, or trade away decent players for no good reason.

3. I just watched my team make the playoffs and get swept, while some other team stopped trying in late February and got a top 10 pick.

4. My team just selected a guy who will be lucky to enjoy a 5-6 year career on the bench while the team that missed the playoffs got a potential difference maker.

5. I can't escape the feeling that making the playoffs was a really bad thing for my team.  This stinks.

TP I hate the fact tanking or "late tanking" is employed but the league is structured that way. We understand tanking but as fans we should all hate it.

[BitterJim]

Imagine that instead of the current way the lottery works, the following were the system:


The lottery drawing now determines the top 6 spots instead of the top 3.

The bottom 4 teams are guaranteed a top 10 pick (the building block of a rebuild).  If you have the worst record, the worst you can get is the 7th pick.  It is very unlikely that this will happen, but it's possible.

The teams that enjoyed home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs pick at the end of the first round, with the very best record selecting the last pick (#30). 

This goes hand in hand with no longer giving a seeding advantage to division winners, which starts next year.

Spots 5 through 22 in the league-wide rankings have a gradually decreasing chance to move up.  The teams in the late teens and early twenties have a small but not insignificant chance to get into the top 6.


In short:

Don't screw over bad teams.  Bad teams can only get better by enjoying a pipeline of young talent.  At the same time, don't screw over semi-decent teams.  Don't make fans feel like they have to choose between rooting for wins now or rooting for wins later. 

Making the playoffs as a middle of the road team shouldn't be a bad thing.  Being absolutely abysmal shouldn't have such an awesome silver lining as it does now.

I like idea. Any team that wanted to lose games at the end of the season for a chance at the top pick would be doing so at the expense of home court advantage, which not many teams would be willing to do.  TP for a proposal that doesn't just change where in the standings tanking occurs

[Csfan1984]

Another great idea to stop a teams choice to last weeks tank is the playoff  salary exemption. The teams that don't make the finals get $ exemption.

All teams that don't make the finals get a $9 million trade exemption or a $7 million FA exemption their choice . However it cuts off at the 12th overall draft team. This makes teams battle for spending cash and resources.

[D.o.s.]

The most extreme and 100% effective way to get rid of tanking was purposed on a certain site. Abolish the draft! It was absolutely correct if the players were all FAs  $, team fit and destination determined the prize. No team would tank.

Of course NBA already has a rookie salary peak  of the #1 pick. All you have to do is double that amount give it to every team and you would tell them this is your rookie max total so you can't sign all the rookies. I actually wouldn't mind the approach seems very player friendly. You can throw all the $ at the best prospect just as teams do in FA. Or you can divide it up and get a few guys.

Until you tell the starting five at Kentucky that they'll make up the difference in salary by the exposure that comes with signing with the Knicks or the Lakers. Every year. And no one wants to go to Milwaukee ever.