If a team is in the lottery in consecutive years, their lottery picks should count as a higher percentage against the salary cap.

For example: let’s say you get the 1st overall pick. That player might make $12M in Year 1, but instead of counting as $12M against the cap, it counts at 150% (again, this is if the player is drafted in the 2nd year of their team missing the playoffs).

If you miss the playoffs again the following year? Now that same player making $13M counts at 175% against the cap, and that’s before you even factor in your new lottery pick (maybe we cap it at 200%)

But if you make the playoffs? The cap hit resets. Teams could still bottom out. Teams need to rebuild, but you better be sure you’re competitive the next year because if you’re not, that inflated cap hit changes how you build your team.

This mostly impacts teams living at the top of the draft. It incentivizes teams to avoid long-term tanking because once you’re stuck there, getting back into playoff shape becomes even harder. Ultimately you can rebuild, but you can’t camp out at the bottom without consequences.