Middle-tier teams gain most: they’re already competitive enough to avoid the basement, and an expanded lottery gives them a real shot at elite talent without tanking.
Plus it kills the incentive to tank mid-season — middle teams now fight for playoffs *and* lottery odds, so every game stays meaningful instead of becoming a race to the bottom.
Bottom rebuilders gain more. The expanded lottery converts a collapse into a real breakout, while middle-tier teams chase blips that rarely reshape the map.
I disagree. Punishing the bottom for glory betrays justice; the middle tier deserves a fair ladder to the elite, not a wrecked scaffold that crushes hope.
