NBA Lottery Ties

Question: If non playoff teams finish tied with the same record at the end of the year, what is the process for determing who gets the most lottery balls?
Chris Sheridan [ESPN]: They break those ties by drawing from a hat (actually a cut-in-half basketball), and they do it live on NBA-TV from the Board of Governors meeting in New York. It is truly riveting television. :)

4/5/10 Chat

Hey, it's "riveting television" if you're a Warriors fan!

almost 2 years ago Atma Brother ONE 12 comments 0 recs |

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Hmm … I’m pretty sure Sheridan’s either mistaken or just funnin’. I was under the strong impression that ties for lottery balls are not “broken.” The tied teams simply pool their balls and split ’em up evenly. The coin flip (or maybe cut-in-half basketball drawing) is only used to determine (a) who gets the statistically negligible one extra pingpong ball-combo, in the event of an odd numbered total; and (b) who picks ahead of whom after the lotto teams have been determined. From wikipedia:

In the event that teams finish with the same record, each tied team receives the average of the total number of combinations for the positions that they occupy. In 2007, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Portland Trail Blazers tied for the sixth worst record. The average of the 6th and 7th positions in the lottery was taken, resulting in each team getting 53 combinations (the average of 63 and 43). Should the average number not be an integer, a coin flip is then used to determine which team or teams receive the extra combination(s). The result of the coin flip is also used to determine who receives the earlier pick in the event that neither of the tied teams wins one of the first three picks via the lottery.

There will be no extra point!

by Sleepy Freud on Apr 6, 2010 9:30 AM PDT reply actions

I’m actually not sure, but I’d be inclined to go with the rule on wikipedia you cited.

Golden State of Mind :: Always keeping it... "Unstoppable Baby!" | SBNation.com

by Atma Brother ONE on Apr 6, 2010 10:15 AM PDT up reply actions

Check out ESPN's draft machine

We have the same odds as Detroit and Washington at 12.1%. 121 is the average of the odds for the 3-4-5 slots (156, 119, and 88 respectively). The order within those tied picks, if they don’t win one of the three lottery slots, is determined by chance.

by genesic on Apr 6, 2010 2:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Sounds like wikipedia has it right. Only question is whether the post-lottery draft order is determined by coin-flip, drawing from a cut-in-half basketball, or some other random means.

Of course, “David Stern’s whim” can’t be totally ruled out as the determining factor…

There will be no extra point!

by Sleepy Freud on Apr 6, 2010 2:25 PM PDT up reply actions

Yes, I believe Sheridan was fooling, hence the smiley face at the end. ;-)

by Dubbadown on Apr 6, 2010 10:52 AM PDT reply actions

No team gets any ping pong balls anymore. That system was done away with in favor of assigning probability combinations more like a real lottery. These combinations are analogous to “tickets”. The draft is still determined by ping pong ball pull, but the balls are not assigned to teams. They have numbers on them and the combination of the numbers determines the winner.

A more accurate analogy when talking about tanking wouldn’t be that we get more ping pong balls, but that we buy more lottery tickets. And similar to the real lottery, you can buy a bunch of tickets, but you’re still more likely to lose than you are to win.

by jae on Apr 6, 2010 10:55 AM PDT reply actions

I tend to use “ping pong balls” as shorthand for “total combinations” (i.e. lotto tickets), mostly ‘cos it’s more poetic. And I think it would be way cooler (and make no difference, probability-wise) if they just put 1,001 ping pong balls, inscribed with the names of lotto teams in the proper proportions, in a humongous ping-pong-popper and let one ball fly out wildly into the crowd. Whoever among the scurrying masses ended up with the ball would then call out the name of the team. Now that would be pretty riveting TV…

There will be no extra point!

by Sleepy Freud on Apr 6, 2010 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions

"Letting one fly out wildly into the crowd"

This made me think of a different type of draft positioning. Have the 13 (or 14?) GM’s grouped together. Fire a ping pong ball with the #3 on it into that crowd of GM’s. They wrestle and scramble for it like a fumbled football. Whoever ends up with it gets the #3 pick. Then do the same for #2 and #1, but if you already have a ball you don’t get to play the next round. Do you go for the #3 or take your chances at #2 or #1. Do you hire a former football player as GM?

Golden State of Mind: Unstoppable Baby!

by Fantasy Junkie on Apr 6, 2010 2:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Haha. I’d hire Tom Brady, since if anyone else recovers the ping-pong ball he gets to invoke the “tuck rule.” Plus, he owes Oakland…

There will be no extra point!

by Sleepy Freud on Apr 6, 2010 2:18 PM PDT up reply actions 2 recs

ROFL

+12

Take my bags, not my top 3 pick!
"Winning is not enough. All others must lose." - Larry Ellison

by Badly Browned on Apr 6, 2010 8:15 PM PDT up reply actions

Rec

The person who writes for fools is always sure of a large audience.

by dubzfan on Apr 7, 2010 12:26 AM PDT up reply actions

similar to the real lottery, you can buy a bunch of tickets, but you’re still more likely to lose than you are to win.

the important difference is we don’t have to buy the tickets, they are free for the taking. By winning games we’re actually “buying” the opportunity to throw away tickets.
the similarity is that buying lottery tickets and throwing away free draft odds are both stupid acts.

Lights please, lights please, turn off the lights.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Apr 6, 2010 11:04 AM PDT reply actions