2019 NBA Draft Lottery

[Superbone]

I have not. Because my mind is made up and nothing will change it. THE FIX IS IN!

Don't let Indy rationalize you out of your convictions!

[Superbone]

We need 1 or 2 but I'm hoping just as much that the Knicks don't get 1 or 2.

This /\/\

Hate that Ewing is going. Stinks of gifting it to them.
Can’t see us with the number one pick of last year going also being awarded the number one pick this year as well.

But one or two would be great.

Only 2 times in NBA draft history has a team gotten back to back overall #1 picks. 2013/2014 Cleveland and 1992/1993 Orlando.

[Superbone]

Ugh. I had one of my worst runs today:

7-3-2-7-7-5-1

[JeremyG]

There’s a theory that some years it is rigged and other years it is not.

I do watch the ping pong balls video. If they don’t want to be accused of rigging it, they should have the independent firm use computer software. For example, they could easily make some of the ping pong balls heavier than others in order to rig it how they want.

[JeremyG]

In fact, this article from last year makes it sound like it would be very easy to rig: https://www.nba.com/suns/features/jim-p ... ft-lottery

So all they had to do was make the “1” ball lighter than the others (so it would rise to the top more easily) and *boom* Suns have the top pick! In fact, this would explain why the Suns got the pick the first 3 times that they drew it, and they had to keep doing it over again. (Video available here: https://www.nba.com/nba-draft-lottery-explainer)

[The Bobster]

So assume it's being rigged.

Who's doing the rigging? Who are they doing it for? And why?

"The league wants Zion in New York" isn't really an answer. Who is "the league"? How do they go about rigging the lottery without being caught? And what exactly do they have to gain from rigging it?

[JeremyG]

For the record, I am undecided on whether it’s rigged or not. But I don’t think it can be proven to not be rigged. It may not be possible to rig it with 100% certainty but I think they could increase the odds that a certain team wins.

[The Bobster]

For the record, I am undecided on whether it’s rigged or not. But I don’t think it can be proven to not be rigged. It may not be possible to rig it with 100% certainty but I think they could increase the odds that a certain team wins.

Again, who is "they" and what is their motivation for rigging it?

[JeremyG]

For the record, I am undecided on whether it’s rigged or not. But I don’t think it can be proven to not be rigged. It may not be possible to rig it with 100% certainty but I think they could increase the odds that a certain team wins.

Again, who is "they" and what is their motivation for rigging it?

“They” would be the league officials, including the commissioner. They could have different motivations at different times, including making sure certain franchises maintain their status in the league. Especially a big market team like NY (see the post earlier in this thread about Red’s memoir).

[Indy]

In fact, this article from last year makes it sound like it would be very easy to rig: https://www.nba.com/suns/features/jim-p ... ft-lottery

So all they had to do was make the “1” ball lighter than the others (so it would rise to the top more easily) and *boom* Suns have the top pick! In fact, this would explain why the Suns got the pick the first 3 times that they drew it, and they had to keep doing it over again. (Video available here: https://www.nba.com/nba-draft-lottery-explainer)

There isn't a single ball that they could lighten, or a group of balls to lighten, that wouldn't be apparently false. You randomly draw 4 numbers between 1 and 14. You don't take those 4 balls out and start over. You keep pulling the same ones over and over and over. If you had 4 balls light enough that you knew those 4 would be the first 4 drawn, they would likely be the first four (or maybe 3/4) every time.

[Indy]

For the record, I am undecided on whether it’s rigged or not. But I don’t think it can be proven to not be rigged. It may not be possible to rig it with 100% certainty but I think they could increase the odds that a certain team wins.

Again, who is "they" and what is their motivation for rigging it?

“They” would be the league officials, including the commissioner. They could have different motivations at different times, including making sure certain franchises maintain their status in the league. Especially a big market team like NY (see the post earlier in this thread about Red’s memoir).

The commissioner is an employee of the league owners. Which of the league owners would want their employee rigging the lottery for another team?

[The Bobster]

For the record, I am undecided on whether it’s rigged or not. But I don’t think it can be proven to not be rigged. It may not be possible to rig it with 100% certainty but I think they could increase the odds that a certain team wins.

Again, who is "they" and what is their motivation for rigging it?

“They” would be the league officials, including the commissioner. They could have different motivations at different times, including making sure certain franchises maintain their status in the league. Especially a big market team like NY (see the post earlier in this thread about Red’s memoir).

So you're saying that because Red Auerbach bitched about the Knicks 50 years ago the unnamed "league officials" are going to favor the Knicks now? If you read Auerbach's 1977 book 'RED AUERBACH: AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY" (I have a copy right here on my desk) his only complaint about the Knicks was that they got so much press coverage because of the print media in New York City. There are zero allegations of the Knicks getting an unfair advantage from the league (in fact, Auerbach is well known for taking advantage of anything he can to give the Celtics an advantage, whether it's fair or not).

I just don't see any motivation for Adam Silver, who seems to be more worried about players being sad about their jobs and having more women officials, taking it upon himself to fix the lottery drawing and leaving himself open to allegations of fraud and lawsuits from every other team in the league and termination from his job. He has every reason NOT to rig the lottery.

[In2ition]

I must be getting soft, but I had to mute some "Suns fans" on Twitter as they were being so negative before the lottery it was driving me nuts. Can you just wait until after the lottery to force your cynicism on everyone?

[JeremyG]

Even Ewing himself says “it might have been fixed” in ‘85:

[The Bobster]

Even Ewing himself says “it might have been fixed” in ‘85:

Well, there's "proof" for yah!

[JCSunsfan]

Does anyone really still think the lottery is rigged--I mean besides those folks that think the earth is flat or that humans don't impact the environment or that vaccines are bad--Seriously wondering.

I think there was a time when it was, but not any more.

[The Bobster]

Does anyone really still think the lottery is rigged--I mean besides those folks that think the earth is flat or that humans don't impact the environment or that vaccines are bad--Seriously wondering.

I think there was a time when it was, but not any more.

So other than the theories about the Ewing draft in 1985, which of the early draft lotteries were rigged?

1986 - Brad Daugherty to Cleveland?
1987 - David Robinson to San Antonio?
1988 - Danny Manning to the L.A. Clippers?
1989 - Pervis Ellison to Sacramento?
1990 - Derrick Coleman to New Jersey?
1991 - Larry Johnson to Charlotte?
1992 - Shaquille O'Neal to Orlando?
1993 - Chris Webber to Orlando?
1994 - Glenn Robinson to Milwaukee?

The Clippers and Nets are the only large market teams here and the Clippers were terribly mismanaged and had just moved to LA and sued the league over it when the Board of Governors tried to block it. Why would they want to reward that? You would think if they were rigging the lottery they would avoid send the top pick to Sterling.

[Superbone]

Alright, I'm not touching it again. I had my first back to back Suns #1 overall pick. Here will be the order of the first 7 picks of the 2019 NBA draft:

1. Suns
2. Mavs
3. Bulls
4. Lakers
5. Knicks
6. Cavs
7. Hawks

[Superbone]

FYI, we have nearly a 50/50 chance of falling 5 or lower.

[The Bobster]

I ran the simulator one time and got this -

1- Suns, 2- Knicks, 3 - Bulls, 4 - Hawks, 5 - Cavaliers, 6 - Wizards, 7 - Pelicans

I will take that.