#2 - Fix 75 missed game rule
Current Language: "Team who have more than 75 unused games will be ineligible to keep a top-3 pick should they finish with one after the lottery (however, should such a team have traded away the rights to such a pick, the team holding those rights will not be so penalized)."
Amendment Suggestion: "Team who finish the season with 75 or more unused games will be ineligible to receive top-3 pick should they finish with one after the lottery. Note 1: This only applies to the draft pick owned by the original team and not an acquired pick from a different team. Note 2: If a team is projected to miss 75+ games and trades away their draft pick, the penalty will carry over to the new team unless the original team drops below 75 missed games before the end of the season. Note 3: If a team (projected to miss less than 75 games) has traded away their draft pick and subsequently misses 75+ games, the penalty will not carry over to the new owner of the draft pick."
Pros: This is intended to prevent inflating the value of draft picks through tanking. This also closes a loop hole where a team with over 75 missed games can trade away their draft pick and have it suddenly be top 3 eligible for the new owner of the pick. Lastly, this closes a loophole which would allow someone to trade away their draft pick and then "sabotage" it by exceeding 75 missed games.
Cons: This is overly confusing. While loopholes exist in the original language, adding this extra language will just make things more complicated. Also, it's challenging to track projected missed games and how it applies to draft picks. Teams might not be aware that the draft pick they are trading for carries a "75 missed game" penalty unless they are following the league closely.
I honestly still think 75 games is too much but have been in the minority IIRC so i won't make a further issue of it. (except in extreme injury circumstances (i.e. 3-4 guys missing 50+ games) i don't see a reason why any team should miss more than 20-30 games a year.
My main concern with the rule is the gaming of it and over complexity of it.
I say:
Picks from teams missing mroe than 75 games are ineligible for a top 3 pick.
IMO, if you're active enough to trade away a lottery pick, you should be active enough to set your roster so that you don't miss nearly 10% of the possible games played.
so I guess I"m proposing:
#2 - Fix 75 missed game ruleCurrent Language: "Teams who have more than 75 unused games will be ineligible to keep a top-3 pick should they finish with one after the lottery. (
however, should such a team have traded away the rights to such a pick, the team holding those rights will
not also be so penalized)."
or more cleanly:
Current Language: "Teams who have more than 75 unused games will be ineligible to keep a top-3 pick should they finish with one after the lottery.
This penalty shall be conveyed with the pick if said pick is traded away. Caveat Emptor."