What are the odds of those three teams getting the top three picks?

[scoutmasterdave]

All these Wikipedia references are reminding me of a great article from The Onion:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/50902

 

[nowagimp]

The only reason I don't think Stern manipulates the draft is that the team owners have a significant stake in the details of the outcome and he holds office at their pleasure. Of course, they all have regard for the welfare of the whole league but they have even more regard for the success of their team so I can't see them going along with fixing the most valuable picks in the draft.

For years the conspiracy buffs have claimed they favor the huge market teams, citing the Knicks acquisition of Ewing as proof positive of that. Now Portland get Oden (presumeably) and Seattle Durant - and that is further proof of a conspiracy? Oh yeah, conspiracy theorists predicted that!

Incidentally, teams tanking proves that owners don't believe the lottery is fixed. And since they have to collective power to have the lottery operated with all the oversight they want and they have a strong interest in maximizing their own chances I don't believe for a minute that Stern has the opportunity to rig the draft.

To that I would say that if owners complained of crookedness, it would devalue their investment seriously. Most teams are owned by groups of individuals who are more concerned about the value of their investment than winning. Single individuals would probably be more difficult to control(like cuban). I know its hard to believe, but winning and profits do not have that strong a correlation. The top 4 money making teams of the past few years are not elite teams with consistent records of winning. The NY knicks are the most profitable NBA team. Profitability in the NBA has alot to do with brand identification, among other things, here is one link

http://gbr.pepperdine.edu/054/nba.html


Complaining about unfair treatment from the front office would alienate the fan base, kill the brand reputation. The NBA business is very complex obviously, and owners have a huge stake in the value of their investment. Owners like David Stern because he works well with the union lawyers, has presided in times of huge value increases of the franchises, issues which are much more important to owners than the draft lottery. If you lose in the lottery, you can always sign a big free agent anyways.

 

[Errntknght]

The owners don't have to complain about crookedness, all they have to do is make sure that Stern has no opportunity to rig the draft. I wouldn't expect them to make a big public stink about it if they had strong suspicions about him doing such a thing. They'd prevent it from happening again and quietly arrange for a successor a ways down the line.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

There is no proof that there are any balls at all, certainly david stern doesnt have any balls, except those poopy synthetic ones he tried to pawn on the players/fans. Stern is a lawyer dictator comissioner, only one in major sports, and he's an eastern liberal immitation of sheriff joe arpaio, "get the lawbreakers", it makes me sick. The cost of his manipulations is so high, he IS the cause of the thuggery in the NBA, he IS the one who changes the rules to grappling levels with massive numbers of no calls, and vanquished the high flyers that made the game so exciting. Why would any player with the ability to sky do that anymore, they could lose a career worth millions. Yeah, I like that commercial, dwayne wade gets knocked down 7 times, gets up 8 times. He got up kind of slow the last few times, he looks beat up 4 years in the league and all. I guess Dwayne will have to learn to play with his feet on the ground if he expects to stay in the league. He just needs to take some pointers from the new musclebound kobe, who doesnt sky anymore, but uses his elbows/newfound muscle, the new tools of the NBA "superstars" of the new milennium. No one cares about vertical jump athleticism anymore, you cant use it in David Sterns NBA without immediately threatening your career. Oh I forgot, some of you guys really think shawn marion CANT jump over oberto for a dunk. That oberto is a real stud, a world class athlete.

One more caveat that was pointed out to me by a former NBA fan: seattle and portland, in 1/12 odds, got the two top picks and were the two teams with severe fan disinterest, even to the point of threaterning the financial viability of these franchises. Just where do you think these franchises could go, oklahoma city? Durant and Oden should help their scenarios hugely, my that is convenient, and allows the punishment of the tankers(memphis, boston, milwaukee) as well. Apparently david stern got many things he wanted in the long odds of the lottery.

Im sure Brandon Roy was sent to keep an eye on david stern and his ping pong balls, he'd know what to look for in a crooked setup(my stomach actually hurts from laughing). Weighted dice, weighted balls, whats the difference? The difference is that there is no oversight, maybe not even sight at all, over the NBA lottery. But you know all this conspiracy theory stuff is so far fetched, kinda like 1 in 12 odds? All this talk of ratings is crap, the local station ratings are what is being paid for, not the national ratings. They dont give a crap whether AZ fans watch the final, its a state of 6million, 30% smaller than new jersey. I'm sure detroit(15 mil in michigan) and san antonio(25 mil in texas) will be able to turn out a few ratings in their local markets. After all, the NY knicks do that every year with crappy teams that play just as ugly as any spurs team.

the lottery is actually overseen by a major U.S. accounting firm. i don't think they'd want to besmirch their reputation, particularly in the wake of the relatively recent arthur anderson scandal, just to help david stern (who, by the way, wasn't the only attorney commissioner - tagliabue was as well) fix the lottery. get real.

 

[Cheesebeef]

some people here are really trying to give Kings and Mavs fan a run for their money in the DELUSIONAL/WHINNING FAN HOF.

get a grip guys.

Yeah, Stern wants the West to continue to get tougher and the East to be really pathetic so that his version of the Super Bowl (the NBA Finals) can continue to get HORRIFIC ratings and hurt the league where it matters most - namely the windfall from TV revenue.

 

[elindholm]

Yeah, Stern wants the West to continue to get tougher and the East to be really pathetic so that his version of the Super Bowl (the NBA Finals) can continue to get HORRIFIC ratings and hurt the league where it matters most - namely the windfall from TV revenue.

The lottery isn't rigged, but you overstate the importance of Finals ratings. The Finals are but a drop in the bucket compared to total television revenue throughout the season. There are more than 1200 regular-season games, all televised, and a maximum of 7 Finals games. The league can afford to sacrifice the Finals as long as people keep buying the regular season -- which, as we've seen, is a completely different sport anyway.