NBA Board of Governors passes legislation on lottery reform

The NBA’s Board of Governors passed legislation on lottery reform by an overwhelming margin on Thursday. We’ll take a look at what it means for the Detroit Pistons.

The NBA’s Board of Governors passed lottery reform legislation on Thursday by an overwhelming margin. Needing just 23 votes for a three-quarters majority to pass, the proposal passed with a tally of 28-1-1, with the Oklahoma City Thunder being the lone “no” vote and the Dallas Mavericks abstaining. Along with the rest of the NBA, the Detroit Pistons voted “yes”.

Small market teams like the Thunder tend to be opposed to major lottery shakeups. Without the big city appeal of the major markets like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, those smaller markets need the draft in order to acquire stars and superstars. The surest way to get a top draft pick is to tank to the bottom of the league’s standings, and this reform will change just how effective that strategy will be, starting in 2019 when the reform goes into effect.

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Under the previous system, the top lottery team had a 25 percent shot at the number one pick, the second lottery team had a 19.9 percent shot and the third team had a 15.6 percent chance. Under the new system, all three teams will have a 14 percent chance for the number one pick. This flattens the top of the lottery while allowing each of the remaining 14 teams to increase their chances to jump up and steal the first pick (other than 14, which remains at 0.5 percent).

The top three teams had a combined 60.5 percent shot at the number one pick under the old system, and it will reduce to just 42 percent.

This past lottery had the Pistons in the 12th spot. While they didn’t budge from that spot, the odds for that spot have changed under the new system. Under the old system, they had a 0.7 percent chance at the top pick, a 3 percent shot at a top-three pick and a 3 percent shot at a top-five pick.

Under the new system, their odds for the number one pick would more than double to 1.5 percent, their top-three odds would jump to 5 percent and their top-five pick odds would more than double to 7 percent.

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Hopefully the Detroit Pistons aren’t back in the lottery anytime soon, but if they do return, the lottery will be less punitive to teams in the higher ranks starting in 2019.