Adam Silver’s aggressive new lottery proposal threatens to trap rebuilding franchises in the basement, leaving struggling rosters like Brooklyn’s with fewer avenues to escape permanent mediocrity.
The Brooklyn Nets are one of many rebuilding teams in the NBA competing for a top-four pick in the draft yearly, but commissioner Adam Silver may have cracked down too harshly on tanking.
Silver and the NBA are proposing the "3-2-1" method to curb tanking efforts, which the NBA Board of Governors will vote on May 28. The approach would give teams with the three worst records the same odds of winning the No. 1 pick as others finishing with the 11th to 16th-worst records.
These efforts aim to de-incentivize tanking and increase competition among the bottom teams for increased draft odds, but executives around the league believe the rule change is a bit too harsh.
"Potentially solving the tanking issue that commissioner Adam Silver has vowed to fix, while making it that much harder for the NBA’s worst teams to get out of the basement," Sam Amick and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic wrote on Sunday. "In the eyes of these executives — many of whom believe this is an overreaction to a problem that was largely inspired by the strength of this particular draft — that’s the irony of this approach."
Executives highlighted the potential flaw in Silver's changes -- the worst teams in the NBA have fewer ways to improve. Brooklyn would have the same odds to win the lottery as the Phoenix Suns, who finished 45-37 and got swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.
The Nets also received the sixth overall pick in May 10's draft lottery after having a 52.1% chance of finishing within the top four. Their draft drought extends to 16 years without a top-four pick and 26 years without the No. 1 pick.
Excessively losing may be the result of tanking, but there is nuance as to why some teams finish with bad records.
Brooklyn was the youngest team in the NBA this past season, with an average age of 23.36 years. The team also had multiple rookies on the roster: Egor Demin, Ben Saraf, Nolan Traore, Danny Wolf and Drake Powell.
Injuries to Michael Porter Jr. and Day'Ron Sharpe opened more opportunities for these young players to develop. Development is a bumpy ride, and the talent difference between other teams can show itself, but coach Jordi Fernández said it's his job to figure out which lineups work and who is most NBA-ready.
"The reality is, I have to develop the young guys," Fernández said. "We have five first-round picks, and guys we just acquired or guys we haven't seen enough. It's my job to get answers to what we want to do in the summer."
Injuries and the development of young players can influence a team's performance throughout the season, especially if it leads to consistent losing streaks.
Although tanking is the most efficient way to increase a team's odds of landing a top-four talent in the draft, various factors play a part in a team -- like the Nets -- finishing with one of the worst records.
Changing the draft format would be more detrimental to the worst teams in the league than beneficial, as there are fewer avenues for improvement.
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