Why do the NHL and NBA choose the first few teams in the draft through a lottery,not by the record of a team.?

Question

By the teams record,i mean by how many games the team lost

Answer 1

to even things out, so a team doesn't get a lot of high picks for bad seasons, like Pitts with crosby malkin.

Answer 2

It's unfair to other teams. When the team with the best record gets the #1 pick then it would be unfair to other teams who might need him while the team that drafted him doesn't.

Answer 3

It prevents teams from throwing their games and also gets fans more interested in the draft.

You still have a better chance in the lottery if you have a bad record though.  The team with the worst record has a 50/50 shot at getting the first pick.

Answer 4

It prevents a team from throwing a season just to get the first pick.  Something many teams have been accused of doing (1993 Sharks, 1984 Penguins)

Answer 5

It prevents teams from throwing games so they can get the 1st pick. In the NBA The 84 Houston Rockets were accused of  doing that so they could draft Hakeem Olajuwon w/the 1st picks. People also suspected the 83 Pens and 93 Sharks of doing it

Also it gets fans intrested

Answer 6

You guys can accuse my Sharks of throwing that 1992-93 season but what did we get F'ing Victor Kozlov..