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NBA Saturday: Modifying The Draft?

NBA Saturday: Modifying The Draft?

By: Alex Kennedy Last Updated: 2/19/11 11:38 AM ET While there wasn't much negotiating during the meeting and very little progress was made, one intriguing concept was proposed by the players. Rather than changing the salary structure to level the playing field for small market teams, an alternative was proposed that would involve making drastic changes to the draft process.

The union made the argument that the quickest way to turn around "crummy" teams is through the draft. Because first-round picks have become so valuable in today's NBA and many teams have had success building a roster with this model, the union feels that the best way to increase parity is to focus the draft around the underachieving teams.

The fourteen non-playoff teams that make up the lottery would not only receive the first fourteen picks, but the next fourteen as well. The team that wins the lottery would receive the first overall pick as well as the fifteenth overall pick. The second team on the clock would also own the sixteenth pick, the third picking team would also own the seventeenth pick and so on.

Each team would receive two first-round selections so that the top twenty-eight players go to the teams that are struggling and the playoff teams that need the least help receive second-round talent. Those playoff teams would follow the same structure in the second round with two late picks each. The union is willing to lower the number to the eight worst teams, but they feel this is a much better way for the league to level the playing field.

Modifying The Draft

This of course wouldn't apply to this season's draft. However, the Raptors definitely need to try and acquire at least one if not two more first round draft picks for 2011.

Didn't the Raptors get their first round 2011 pick back in the Bosh deal? That alone could make the Bosh trade a winner. We shall see.