Steve Aschburner of SI has an article on changes to the NBA he'd like to see. The intro is long, rambling, and barely makes sense, and many of the ideas are silly or just plain bad. But I did like two of them in particular. Here's one that thankfully doesn't apply to us much anymore. However, as someone who has tracked the lottery very closely over the years, I must approve:
The draft lottery. No more allotting Ping-Pong balls in inverse order of record. Let's tier it: the worst 10 teams, the middle 10 teams and the top 10, with teams on each tier getting the same number of chances. That removes much of the advantage in tanking -- the fifth-worst team would feel no pressure to lose more frequently -- and the break between Nos. 10 and 11 would be close enough to playoff qualifying that a few more balls wouldn't matter either.
Next, I've already talked about this, and the idea isn't new, but it is past time to implement this:
D-League affiliations. Give every NBA Development League team a one-to-one affiliation with an NBA team. The league needs a farm system. It needs to generate interest in up-and-coming players and it needs to directly influence their development through systematically consistent coaching methods. The Knicks' farm team, for example, would play an up-tempo game to prep players for Mike D'Antoni's style. In fact, D'Antoni and team president Donnie Walsh would appoint the coaches of their D-League club, and those coaches eventually would be ready and able for promotions to the NBA sideline.
What other change ideas would you suggest for the NBA?