Stan Van Gundy suggests getting rid of NBA draft to curb tanking

— -- Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy believes that the solution to discourage the worst NBA teams from tanking their seasons is to wipe out the NBA draft.

"I'd get rid of it, just get rid of the draft altogether," Van Gundy told reporters after practice Friday. "We'd just deal with the salary cap. Make all [rookies] free agents coming in, and if I want to go give a guy $50 million a year, good, but I got to do it under the cap."

Van Gundy's comments followed Thursday's board of governors vote that reworked the lottery odds each team gets.

Starting with the 2019 draft, the top three teams will each have 14 percent odds of landing the No. 1 pick. Also, four teams will be drawn in the lottery, meaning the team with the worst record the season before could fall as low as fifth in the draft order.

The Pistons were one of the 28 teams that approved the lottery reform measure.

Van Gundy said he doesn't think his proposal would lead to rookies flocking to one team and creating further disparity within the NBA.

"They say everybody would want to go to L.A. Well, how much money are they going to give up to go to those places?" Van Gundy said.

The Pistons won't be affected by the new lottery system, Van Gundy said, because the team won't tank games under his watch.

The coach also proposed eliminating max contracts as part of his plan, an idea he has previously expressed. He said that max contracts are the reason so-called superteams can form.