On the morning of the 2018 NBA Draft it’s easy for 25-odd NBA franchises to look with envy upon the coveted holders of the Top 5 selections. As dreams of Deandre Ayton and Luka Doncic turning around terrible franchises dance through heads, NY Times writer Michael Powell offers a cautionary study that says, in essence, tanking to the top doesn’t work.
Powell cites data from a two-year old article by Akira Motomura, an economics professor at Stonehill College. Among the conclusions:
It’s not clear that it’s much better to draft fifth than 25th.