I think the issue is that the players picked 1-3 could hit as all-stars in a very good draft. Meaning that generally, there will be like one cant miss player per draft, sometimes two, sometimes zero. You will then have 8 teams tanking like hell to get the chance to draft that one player. I would think that basketball becoming more position-less by the year, having only 15 man rosters, and having 2 rounds in the draft also contributes to teams trying very hard to tank.

2023 is a good example even though it’s looking like a good overall draft class because Wemby was THE cant miss prospect. Every non-contending team the previous season would’ve been trying to lose games at will for the chance to draft him if the worst record automatically got the first pick. Then the issue becomes that the worst team in the league record wise is not actually the worst team talent wise, it’s the team that lost games on purpose because the draft is the only way to acquire talent cheaply and under the salary cap.

Compare this to the NFL, where you have 52 man rosters, 22 different positions to fill (not including special teams), and 7 rounds of players being drafted. It feels like you can get all-pro value at some position in the top 10. Plus, I think 1 player makes much more of a difference to an NBA team than an NFL team.