The NBA draft lottery is a system that is designed to randomize the order of the teams that did not make the playoffs. This prevents teams from tanking and locking in the 1st overall pick. This system adds excitement and suspense of wondering who the number 1 overall pick will fall to. The NBA uses a lottery machine. Before the selection, the machine certifies all of the ping pong balls used in the drawing. The drawing uses 14 ping pong balls, numbered 1 to 14. There are 1,001 combinations available when four balls are drawn out of 14. Before the lottery takes place, 1,000 of the 1,001 combinations will be assigned to the teams. The 14 balls are mixed and selected. Most of the teams that win have a high percentage chance of winning, the highest being 14%. Rarely, a team with a low percentage will even make it to the top 3.
The lottery has sparked a lot of controversy recently. The Dallas Mavericks had a 1.8% chance of landing the top pick, and they did it. They beat out multiple teams that deserved the number one overall pick and had a 14% chance of landing the pick. The Dallas Mavericks will most likely take Cooper Flagg, who is being compared to some of the best players in the league. After this year’s lottery, many people are questioning its fairness and effectiveness.
Before the trade deadline, the Dallas Mavericks traded their best player, Luka Doncic, to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Dallas fanbase was devastated, and on multiple occasions, they were chanting “Fire Nico,” as in the Dallas Mavericks general manager. Dallas fans were very upset about this trade. Some believe that the NBA gave Dallas this first pick to cool the tension between the fans and the Mavericks’ staff. This theory has led to loads of questions about the fairness of this year’s lottery.
While many may believe that the lottery is scripted or not fair. I believe that it is all fair, and not every time the team with the highest percentage chance of winning will take home the pick. This year, the Mavericks just got lucky and took home the pick. Each team has a chance of winning, even if it might not seem like they can, the odds are statistically random. One way to fix the controversy is to show the public all that goes down before the draft lottery, ensuring that everyone understands how random the selection can be. Anytime a team with a low chance of winning takes the pick, there will be controversy, and you can change that. It takes away tanking for the 1st pick, which is better than watching teams with a low chance of taking the pick.
