Hoopfeed: How to "fix" the WNBA draft lottery

[DishNSwish]

Normally, I do not write opinion pieces for Hoopfeed. I have always considered it our responsibility to give you, the reader, all of the facts possible, and let you make your own conclusions. However, last night the WNBA held their annual draft lottery and I could not help but feel a dull ache in the pit of my stomach at the results. I know “fix” is an ugly word surrounding the lottery right now, but I aim to “fix” the lottery, as in “it is broken and in need of repair.”

http://www.hoopfeed.com/content/2012/09/27/how-to-fix-the-wnba-draft-lottery-problem/

 

[TDiNozzo]

Nice. Gives everyone a much more even chance without the trickery.

 

[DishNSwish]

It seems so simple doesn't it? And it yields the "right results". If you tank for two or three years, you deserve the number one pick!

 

[Alydar]

Of course this assumes that the process isn't intentionally fixed. This is first and foremost a business. The people who have been subsidizing the league aren't doing it for a love of wbb. They hope to build consumer interest and are willing to lose money now in hopes of a payoff down the road. The NBA has had several incidents of teams with the worst record ending up with the last lottery pick. I can't remember the years but it happened twice to the Celtics. I also seem to remember the Sun having an experience similar to Washington some years ago but I can't remember which year. NCAA stars are either drafted by big market teams or else they get traded there. It seems like some teams continually put all-star teams on the court while others tell their fans that they can't do the same, usually citing salary cap issues. The Lakers, however, always seem to have money to spend on whomever they covet. Anyone who thinks they are just smarter accountants is deluded. Right now, the 2 biggest stars of the W (Moore/Parker) are located in the western conference, and Griner will join them soon. Anyone looking at a map of top college teams will see that with a half hand-full of exceptions the east is dominant. Looks to me like the W is concentrating on the untapped fandom of the west?

I worked in gaming for about 35 years and I can assure you that if a lottery is actually held behind closed doors like the W then it's a good guess that something is going on. Can you imagine a casino game where only the house can see the cards wins? My expereince has taught me that if it can be fixed, it will be fixed.

Personally I am very happy to see Phoenix getting the first pick. But I'm not naive enough to believe it was purely due to chance. And if I'm right then no new draft system will fix it because whomever gets the top pick will just trade it away to the team selected to receive it. JMO of course.

 

[EricLA]

There was a tremendous amount of luck involved. Good for Phoenix. They needed something bit to be able to keep up with LA and Minny. Seattle should be up there again if they are healthy next year. That means along with Tulsa, San Antonio may be the odd teams out and have a chance at the lottery. in the east, I think Chicago is in and NY and Washington are out.

The draft that year is going to be absolutely loaded. Dolson, Hartley, Ogwumike, Grey (Duke), Simms, Thomas (MD), Howard (FSU), Schimmel. I have no idea the order, but I could see the bottom 4 teams landing Ogwumike, Thomas, Simms, and Grey/Hartley as the top 4 picks. All those would be a great addition to any team and given the lack of controversy surrounding the top 1 or 2 picks, and then a huge drop off, I'm not sure there will be any crying next year...

Additionally, even teams that pick 5-8 will still have a shot at landing an extremely high quality player. imagine getting Dolson or Hartley with the 7th or 8th pick...

 

[Wbbfan1]

The proposed system is better then the current system. For the Mystics to be a viable WNBA franchise they needed one of the first two picks so they could draft either Griner or EDD. For them to end up 4th has the potential for the franchise to disappear or be sold. Can't see them improving next year and will probably end up in the lottery again.

Also the WNBA has the potential for all the best teams to be in the Western Conference. There won't be an Eastern Conference team that can come close to the Top 3 or 4 teams in the West. Next year in the Western Conference there will be a pretty good team besides Tulsa that won't make the playoffs and be in the lottery.

 

[Vowelguy]

http://www.hoopfeed.com/content/2012/09/27/how-to-fix-the-wnba-draft-lottery-problem/

Last night was thinking about the draft and also came up with the idea of using the last 3 years as better than just this past season!

Great minds ...

 

[Vowelguy]

Of course this assumes that the process isn't intentionally fixed.

BS. I don't believe that for a second.

 

[DishNSwish]

Tulsa coach Gary Kloppenburg after reading my piece tweeted:

Well-thought out...how much parity would WNBA have now?

True parity at pro level in any sport creates an incredibly exciting atmosphere. WNBA's long term health depends on it!!

To disclose fully, he and I discussed it on the Dishin & Swishin podcast we did last night as well.

 

[alexrgct]

Parity absolutely sucks in every pro sport and college sport it's impacted. I could not disagree with that premise more.

Do we really need a niche sport in which no teams are particularly memorable or interesting, but the relatively few fans there are can be excited that their favorite team might win a title in a systemically watered down league?

 

[AllAmerRedHeads]

Good article editorial David. Thanks for sharing. the whole thing reeks. totally turned off by what happened.

 

[CamrnCrz1974]

Interesting article, but I completely disagree with the premise.

Average the win-loss records for a rolling three-year period for the lottery teams? Slight problem. The Washington Mystics finished in first place in 2010; the past two years, they have a combined 11 wins. The Mystics' owner, Sheila Johnson, got rid of the very successful coach and very successful general manager. She then hired Trudi Lacey, who had a track record of being a poor coach and a poor assessor of talent in the WNBA, as both the coach and the general manager.

Washington fans feel upset; I feel their pain. It must be incredibly difficult for them. But the only reason why they were banking on the lottery is because the team's owner (and through the owner, the coach/general manager) put the team there with bad coaching, poor player personnel transactions, and fostering an atmosphere of losing (to say nothing of the owner's complete disregard for the fans).

Using the rolling period will continually reward such teams for the incompetence of management. The issue for the Mystics is finding a better coach, trying to make trades, and improving the personnel they have. The lottery is in addition to these things, not the be-all, catch-all. The lottery is part of the process, not the process.