“I personally don’t think it’s a winning strategy over the long term to engage in multiple years of rebuilding,” Silver said. I believe personally that’s corrosive for those organizations.”The Philadelphia 76ers are the rare franchise in position to differ. It is too early to say whether Silver’s lottery-reform crusade will actually quell further tanking attempts from teams pondering the Philadelphia model, but it has a chance. With Jamal Mashburn as their star rookie rather than Chris Webber or Penny Hardaway, after the Mavericks fell to the No. 4 overall pick the previous off-season despite boasting the highest odds of winning the draft lottery, they posted a 13-69 record.

Source: New York Times February 25, 2019 23:53 UTC