Houston Rockets: Daryl Morey Expresses Disapproval for Current NBA Draft Lottery Methods

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey offered his opinions about the current NBA draft lottery system and his stance was fairly strong: change the current method so teams won’t have the opportunity to tank a season in exchange for a high draft pick in the offseason.

Via Dan Feldman of ESPN’s TrueHoop:

“Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said the NBA’s method for assigning draft picks needs an overhaul.

“We have to get rid of the marginal incentive to lose,” Morey said.

The NBA places non-playoff teams into a weighted lottery — worse teams getting better odds of a higher pick — so accusations of teams tanking to get a higher selection have long been a part the league’s culture. As the highly anticipated 2014 draft approaches, those murmurs have increased.

Morey finds the speculation justified.

“It’s bad right now,” said Morey, who noted he counted two-thirds of NBA teams weren’t trying to win at the end of last season.”

The 2014 NBA draft has been hyped since last summer to potentially be one of the most memorable draft classes in recent memory, which has led to some teams who won’t make the playoffs not want to compete at their highest level.

The lottery was first implemented in 1985 in an effort to prevent teams from tanking to get the 1st overall pick, as the order of the picks were in reverse order of each team’s record.

Morey’s take seems to be rather genuine as the Rockets went through a recent transition period while still being competitive enough to almost earn a playoff spots in 2010, 2011, and 2012.