The NBA’s top bettor says the gambling fix starts with the end of the draft lottery
The NBA recently found itself embroiled in a major controversy with multiple personalities around the league, including Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and the Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billupsarrested for alleged involvement in illegal gambling activities. The accusers further scrutinized the league’s relationship with various sportsbooks and continued to question the integrity of the game.
Recently, Bob Voulgaris, former director of quantitative research and development for the Dallas Mavericks, stopped by Pablo Torre Finds Out to discuss as he thinks the league can eliminate some of the gray areas that can cause fans to suspect that players are gambling with themselves, including situations such as the draft lottery, which sometimes causes star players to miss games.
“There are a couple of ways. You can just make the draft 100% random, that’s one way. It’s not the most sophisticated way. You can do a wheel where every team is guaranteed a spot every 30 years. That’s fairer,” Voulgaris said.
He also proposed a new method for rookies to enter the league.
“You can make every rookie a restricted free agent. Why don’t you just give these kids the ability to go wherever they want and make the salary cap harder. A hard salary cap with no individual player salary cap, but a limited cap similar to other sports,” he said.
A big scandal for the NBA
Whatever solution the NBA chooses, they’ve certainly got a big mess on their hands with this latest gambling scandal, which isn’t the first to rock the league in recent years. It wasn’t that long ago that Toronto Raptors big man Jontay Porter was kicked out of the league for a similar allegation, and Detroit Pistons guard Malik Beasley found himself at the center of an investigation this summer and remains unsigned two weeks into the season.
All in all, for a league that claims to put the integrity of the game above all else, things could certainly look brighter.
2025-11-06 18:15:00
