I don't mind the lottery. It adds a bit of a potential drawback for massive losing, while still allowing terrible teams to have high draft picks. The worst the Nets could've been this year was 4th. They're 3rd. Should they have been first? Perhaps, but the slight bump down is a bit of justice for playing some of the worst basketball in the history of the NBA for much of this season. There's no justification for the Wizards having the number 1 pick, but that's how the balls dropped. If you don't have this randomization, nothing would stop horrible teams from trying to lose and getting away with it. The only alternative would be to reverse the draft order which is another terrible idea. All drafts are rewards or compensations for losing. The NBA's isn't that much different from the NHL's either. From what you've described of the NHL, only five teams end up in a lottery and only for the top spot. There's not much drawback for a team with a potential first pick winding up picking second, and mediocre teams are screwed completely. In the NBA, at least there isn't a complete lockout for teams that had better seasons than the dregs of the league.