I sleep in the shadows in the nation’s capital.
Home of the lowly mismanaged Washington Wizards.
After years of hiring “yessir” men to run the front office into an abyss of incompetence, Ted Leonsis has finally hired a group of adults to fix the mess he caused.
It is up to Michael Silver and his group to dig the franchise out of a deep hole. No league is more challenging than the NBA because the Governors impose rules that hurt organizations their fellow Governors mismanaged.
That has created a culture of Tank-a-thon.
Tanking happens in every sport, so it isn’t unique to the NBA.
Under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), rebuilding a team has become harder. In the past, the deterrent was supposed to be the Luxury Tax, but as wealthy ownership groups have purchased NBA franchises, some NBA Governors are willing to pay just about anything to bring a winner to their town.
The “Second Apron” acts as a hard cap that limits teams beyond the tax bill.
So, teams like the Wizards feel like they must trade off every possible asset, bottom out, and lose for several seasons to turn things around.
Expanding the playoffs was supposed to address this. By having the Play-In Tournament, the league would have 10 teams in each conference with the opportunity to collect playoff money.
But there are Governors out there who would rather miss the playoffs and be in the next two lotteries than make the playoffs.
So how can the NBA stop the multi-season Tank-a-thon?
Limit how many consecutive seasons you can have a chance to win the lottery.
Let me throw this out there.
My proposal:
A franchise can only be in the lottery for two consecutive seasons. If an organization misses the playoffs in year three, it is automatically the 14th pick in that draft. The organization would be ineligible to win the lottery, no matter the record, and then the other 13 teams would have their odds adjusted.
What happens if multiple teams fall into this category? The team with the best record in that category gets the best pick.
Scenario:
Wizards 28 wins
Pelicans 27 wins
Hornets 26 wins
The Wizards would get the 12th pick, Pelicans the 13th pick, and the Hornets the 14th pick.
The odds would be adjusted for the 11 teams eligible to win the lottery.
Once an organization has paid the penalty, if it misses the playoffs the following season, it is eligible for the lottery again.
Add that to the Stepien Rule and the Second Apron, and organizations would have to operate more responsibly. Fans would be the ultimate winners.
