The NBA has a lottery where the teams that dont make the playoffs get an opportunity to get the #1 pick in the draft. Based on how the ping pong balls fall, the draft order is defined for non playoff teams.
But lets have some fun with math. What if the 5 teams of the Hotlantic Division of the Eastern Conference also happened to finish with the 5 worst records in the NBA ? What if it was a photo finish and the “winner” of the conference stormed into the playoffs with say a 25 and 57 record. Would that team be better off in the playoffs, or in the lottery ?
We can even take out some of the inevitable drama and ask if would be worth it to go into the playoffs if the division winner finished with one of the say 8 to 10 worst records in the NBA.
A chance to get blitzed in the playoffs, or a lottery pick in what is being called the deepest draft since the Lebron/Josh Howard Draft. A possible long shot at Greg Oden, or the playoffs ?
Will teams tank the season simply because there is a chance they could make the playoffs in the Hotlantic division ?
Will this create the ultimate of ironies given that the Knicks don’t have their draft pick ? Could it be that if the division continues to win at the same percentages that only the Knicks will an incentive not to tank the season and win the division by default ?
Of course the chances of any of this are slim, right ?
It will be interesting to see what happens