When is the NBA Lottery?

[Guest GameCop]

Is it this Sunday during halftime of the Lakers-Blazers game? Or is it next week?

 

Here's what the order of the draft will be, in my opinion:

 

1) Chicago Bulls

2) Cleveland Cavs

3) Denver Nuggets

4) Miami Heat

5) L.A. Clippers

6) Toronto Raptors

7) Atlanta Hawks

8) Memphis Grizzlies

9) NY Knicks

10) Golden State Warriors

11) Washington Wizards

12) Houston Rockets

13) Seattle Sonics

[Guest bob_barron]

It's usually during the second round of the playoffs

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

Are we pretending that it's not fixed? Cause if not than Cleveland will get the first pick so LeBron can go where the NBA wants him to

[Guest Mad Dog]

I'm pretty sure that it's fixed so that the Bulls or Knicks get it.

 

The real debate is if I even give a damn anymore.

[Guest CanadianChris]

The NBA draft lottery will be held Thursday, May 22, in prime time.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

The NBA lottery is a joke, plain and simple. Since it's inception, I don't think the team with the worse record in the NBA has ever won it. No other sports league, that matters, uses a lottery system. The team with the worse record should get the top pick. Last year Houston was not the worse team, yet they got the top pick? Doesn't make sense to me. And yes a team might purposely tank a season to get the top pick, but to me the worse team should get the top pick.

[Guest alkeiper]

It's not tanking the season that it prevents, but individual games. Like the last two or three games of the season, where a team might pack it in to try and get the worst record. That kind of effort would kill the credibility of the sport.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

That's the problem with the the lottery. Instead of one team tanking to get Lebron, which is what would have happened with a regular draft, we have at least 3, possibly more, tanking to get Lebron.

 

I mean, if the Cavs end up with like the 6th pick or something, can you even begin to imagine how bad they'll be?

 

ps - I will not deny the lottery makes for one hilarious halftime show. Every year that poor bastard Baylor looks worse and worse.

[Guest bob_barron]

The NBA lottery is a joke, plain and simple. Since it's inception, I don't think the team with the worse record in the NBA has ever won it. No other sports league, that matters, uses a lottery system. The team with the worse record should get the top pick. Last year Houston was not the worse team, yet they got the top pick? Doesn't make sense to me. And yes a team might purposely tank a season to get the top pick, but to me the worse team should get the top pick.

The NHL uses a lottery system btw.

 

I like it- it means teams won't tank games just to get the pick since it doesn't guarantee a #1 slot

[Guest CanadianChris]

The NBA lottery is a joke, plain and simple.  Since it's inception, I don't think the team with the worse record in the NBA has ever won it.  No other sports league, that matters, uses a lottery system.  The team with the worse record should get the top pick.  Last year Houston was not the worse team, yet they got the top pick?  Doesn't make sense to me.  And yes a team might purposely tank a season to get the top pick, but to me the worse team should get the top pick.

The NHL uses a lottery system btw.

Thanks for setting up the obvious joke. Anyone else want to knock this softball out of the park?

[Guest starvenger]

The NHL uses a lottery system btw.

 

I like it- it means teams won't tank games just to get the pick since it doesn't guarantee a #1 slot

But I believe that it's done such that you can't move up more than 3 places or something. It's kinda weird...

[Guest phoenixrising]

The NHL uses a lottery system btw.

 

I like it- it means teams won't tank games just to get the pick since it doesn't guarantee a #1 slot

But I believe that it's done such that you can't move up more than 3 places or something. It's kinda weird...

I think the last place team gets more balls in the hopper, the second-to last gets a few less and so on, so the chances are supposedly in favor of the teams with the worst record. However I remember Golden State just missing the playoffs by a few games one year and getting the #1 pick, which they used to take Joe Smith. Houston was close to making the playoffs last season too. The whole lottery system is pretty unpredictable. I'm still guessing however that somehow only Chicago and NY Knick balls are loaded in the hopper to ensure one of them getting the first round pick and most likely LeBron.

[Guest The Czech Republic]

The NBA lottery is a joke, plain and simple.  Since it's inception, I don't think the team with the worse record in the NBA has ever won it.  No other sports league, that matters, uses a lottery system. 

The NHL uses a lottery system btw.

Thanks for setting up the obvious joke. Anyone else want to knock this softball out of the park?

Sure!

 

"Exactly, the NHL doesn't matter."

[Guest Choken One]

I've said a Billion times, Of course the Lotto is rigged which is Why NBA can't rig it for Chicago, Cleveland or New York to win it because that would be too constroversial...

 

I say they rig it for Atlanta, a very hurting team that could gain from a Hip-Hop superstar like James that could spark that urban population into Phillips Arena.

 

Then Rig it so that Carmello, is sent to a team right on the verge of breakout...I.E Seattle or Memphis

 

and leave Cleveland to pick up Darko

 

My Lotto Order Picks

 

1. Atlanta

2. Seattle

3. Cleveland

4. Chicago

5. Denver

6. Miami

7. New York

8. Golden State

9. L.A Clippers

10. Houston

11. Washington

12. Toronto

13. Memphis

[Guest The Electrifyer]

I find it funny how people think the lottery is going to be rigged.

[Guest fazzle]

No matter who wins, someone, somewhere will have a theory to prove that it's rigged.

[Guest JHawk]

While I'm not saying whether or not the draft lottery is rigged, let's say it is rigged. How would Cleveland getting the pick be considered controversial since they'll have more balls in the hopper than anybody else? Wouldn't that possibly make people think the lottery might be legit for once?

[Guest Lethargic]

People just need something to bitch about and make up conspiracy theories about. I love their setup. Come May 22nd I'll be much more interested in watching this than watching the game.

 

If it WAS rigged...so what? You have just as much of a chance of getting somebody good at 7 as you do at 1. Look at the Golden State pick mentioned earlier. Joe Smith?! So you're telling me Golden State WON that pick? Look like they lost it to me. Later on in the same draft, Phoenix got Michael Finley at 21.

 

If the lottery makes 3 or 4 teams try to throw games to get the better pick, where are those 3 or 4 teams this year? Cavs, sure. They pretty much admitted it. But look at the other teams. They're not throwing anything, they're just plain bad teams. The same bad teams from the past 3 or 4 years. Nuggets are in a rebuilding year. They have bad, young roster but they've played much harder than anybody expected. They're doing what you're supposed to do to rebuild a franchise. Throw out your young guys for a season so they can learn how to play, and hope to get a good pick at the end of the season. I don't think they're intentionally losing games in hopes of getting a high school player. The Heat? The Heat didn't intentionally inject poison in Zo's kidney. Clippers? They always suck. Raptors, Grizzlies, Bulls, Hawks, all the rest of them...those teams are genuinely not good enough to make the playoffs. They didn't miss them to get Lebron.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

So has Carmelo officially passed Darko on the draft board? Or does it depend on who gets pick 2?

[Guest Vern Gagne]

It depends on the team.

 

I like the idea of a lottery. Just drafting by record gives to much reward for teams tanking the season.

[Guest Choken One]

I agree and it's not like Houston or Seattle will win it (teams right on the cusp of being a contender) will be rigged to win the lotto...

[Bored 0]

If the current lottery system was rigged Houston doesn't get the first pick last year. Now the old system which was where every team had an equal chance to get the #1 pick (I forget when they went to the percentage based system they have now, believe the early 90s) there were always rumors of it being fixed. The 1985 lottery is widly believed to have been fixed when the Knicks got the #1 pick to get Patrick Ewing.

[Guest CanadianChris]

If the current lottery system was rigged Houston doesn't get the first pick last year. Now the old system which was where every team had an equal chance to get the #1 pick (I forget when they went to the percentage based system they have now, believe the early 90s) there were always rumors of it being fixed. The 1985 lottery is widly believed to have been fixed when the Knicks got the #1 pick to get Patrick Ewing.

They changed it very shortly after Orlando got their single ball drawn to get the #1 pick for the second year in a row (when they got Shaq and then Penny), despite being the last team to miss the playoffs. So it'd be sometime in the mid-90s.

[Guest Choken One]

I believe only once did the worse team actually get #1...

 

I am telling you all...Atlanta will draw #1...

[Guest Lethargic]

So has Carmelo officially passed Darko on the draft board? Or does it depend on who gets pick 2?

Carmelo hasn't even said he's going pro yet has he? Isn't it just speculation at this point? I haven't heard anything from him.

 

Man, I hope Atlanta doesn't get the first pick. There's gonna be a thousand "I TOLD YOU SO" posts in this thread if that happens.

[Guest Rob Van Dam]

If the current lottery system was rigged Houston doesn't get the first pick last year. Now the old system which was where every team had an equal chance to get the #1 pick (I forget when they went to the percentage based system they have now, believe the early 90s) there were always rumors of it being fixed. The 1985 lottery is widly believed to have been fixed when the Knicks got the #1 pick to get Patrick Ewing.

They changed it very shortly after Orlando got their single ball drawn to get the #1 pick for the second year in a row (when they got Shaq and then Penny), despite being the last team to miss the playoffs. So it'd be sometime in the mid-90s.

Actually Magic drafted Shaq and Webber with the number 1 picks, they traded webber to golden state on draft night for penny and future number 1 picks.

[Guest Choken One]

U Mean Webber and Shaq could've been on the SAME FUCKING TEAM? Orlando should be SHOT for that...

 

I would've loved to seen those egos work together...

[Guest Human Fly]

I don't think they fix the Lotto every year. But this year with such a big name going #1 I wouldn't doubt that the fix is already in.

 

If they don't want people to think that it's fixed they should just do the drawing right on TV.

[Guest Lethargic]

If they don't want people to think that it's fixed they should just do the drawing right on TV.

That'd be the stupidest thing they could do. There'd be no suspense in it. It'd be boring. In the actual drawing, the first pick is drawn first. So we'd be watching 30 minutes of buildup to see who is gonna get the LAST pick.

[Guest Human Fly]

That'd be the stupidest thing they could do. There'd be no suspense in it. It'd be boring. In the actual drawing, the first pick is drawn first. So we'd be watching 30 minutes of buildup to see who is gonna get the LAST pick.

If they don't want to lose the hallmark of suspense TV that is the NBA draft lottery then why not have more witnesses in the room than they do now. I know they have a few now, but put some more in besides the lawyers and reps. from one TV network. Or else do it on TV where everyone can see, then there would be no questions.