What annoys me is the alleged justification for ending that kind of lottery was the Magic getting two straight number one picks in '92 and '93, the second one despite having a 41-41 record. People figured it was somehow unfair that they should get a number one pick having already gotten Shaq the year before.
Now, the year they drafted Shaq, they had finished with 21 wins. Shaq alone seemed to be good enough to get 41. They took Webber, they swapped him from Penny and won 50 games. They won 57 the year after and made NBA finals. They won 60 the year after that, and then Shaq bolted and Penny's body broke down.
Regardless, isn't this exactly the scenario you want to see? Here's a team that joined the league only 3 years prior, sitting at 21 wins, and they draft first twice and parlay it into a finals appearance within 3 years! In the three years immediately after getting Penny, they averaged 56 wins. Isn't that a good thing? Under the current system, the Magic would've most likely picked 13th or 14th and gotten someone like Terry Dehere, who was the best available point guard at that point(back then, of course). Then Shaq would drag them all to 45 wins for the next few seasons.
People talk about Philly and how they have a talented team and all this and that, but the amount of waste over the past decade is astounding. They had the number 2 pick 7 years ago and ended up with Evan Turner whom they traded for Danny Granger's corpse. The corpse was duly bought out a week after the trade. They had a rookie of the year in MCW and they traded him half a season later. They dumped Noel, who was a 6th pick of the draft only 3 years ago. They're screwing up Okafor as we speak. I highly doubt their win total cracks 30 this year.
Sacramento has picked in the top 8 last 9 years in a row. Let that sink in. Top 12 for 11 years. They've done jack all with it all because they're just a bad organization, as is Philly. They had to trade Cousins because they couldn't get through to him or build around him. Bismack Biyombo(traded for Jimmer), Thomas Robinson, Ben McLemore, Nick Stauskas, Willy Cauley-Stein, Marquess Chriss(traded for Labissier). You know what they all have in common? Not one player on this list averaged double-figures in points this year. Not the players they drafted, and not the players those players were traded for. I mean, freaking hell, stop giving top 8 picks to the organization that's drafting like this.
The reason these teams can keep doing this is partly that they're not really losing money because of merchandising, revenue sharing, and insane TV money. The bigger part is that they keep being given high lottery picks because they just keep losing. It doesn't seem to help with the losing, though, but they keep getting them. Wouldn't it be nice to see some of the other teams rewarded with a high pick. The Nuggets missed the playoffs this year and much as I hate them(local rivals!), wouldn't it be nice to see them getting a number one pick(well, four, but you know what I'm talking about) instead of Philly? Rewarding them for drafting smartly and actually developing players and not just being a field hospital?
