How the First Overall Pick Should be Determined

How cool would it be to see eight of the worst teams in the league play each other? Sounds boring but when the first overall pick is on the line the entertainment amps up.  

Nobody likes tanking, especially in football, basketball, and hockey so instead of doing a lottery or having the worst team get the first pick, have an end-of-the-year tournament while the playoffs are happening. A regular season matchup of the two worst teams in the league would not be exciting unless you are a fan of one of the teams or have a bet on them, but a matchup for the next potential Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, or Connor McDavid? Sign me up. 

As we all know in professional sports any team can beat any team. We have already seen it through five weeks of the NFL as the Cardinals beat the Cowboys who were -750 and the Browns beat the undefeated 49ers with their third-string quarterback. With this tournament idea, the lower teams can be more competitive which can cause more upsets since they have less of an incentive to tank. 

Now eight teams may be too much, maybe it’s the bottom four so it’s not like a team just misses the playoffs and then has a good shot at the first overall pick, but I don’t need to get all the wrinkles out that can be up to the commissioners. 

Imagine if this idea was implemented in the last decade. Maybe Joe Burrow isn’t on the Bengals but instead on the Lions or Jared Goff doesn’t get drafted by the Rams therefore they never trade for Stafford and win a Super Bowl. Looking at the basketball side maybe Zion Williamson doesn’t get drafted by the Pelicans and isn’t a bust. 

So many what ifs but crazy to think about. It’s like doing a season mode in Madden and all the players are on different teams. Anyways, Roger Goodell, Adam Silver, and Gary Bettman get on it.