How Sports Drafts Should Work
In America, Sports Drafts are usually in order of how teams finish the previous year. For example, if the "Apples" gets to the playoffs, and the "Bananas" doesn't, then the "Bananas" will get to pick before the "Apples" in the player draft for the next year.
But what really matters is winning championships! Therefore, Sports Drafts should be based on how long it has been since a team last won a championship. Look at baseball -- MLB in particular. The Cubs haven't won since 1908, so they should get the first pick in the next draft, and every subsequent one, until they win. The Giants (my favorite team my whole life), would pick last because we won it last year (2014). Get it?
In the NBA, the Sacramento Kings were founded in 1951, and have never won a championship. They should get first pick. The table below shows the Cavs should get the 4th or 5th pick next year -- it is only fair, because they've never won since being founded in 1970.
NFL list: Go to this page and click "5 Active Super Bowl win droughts". Based on this information, the Arizona Cardinals have had the longest time without winning a championship, and should logically get first pick in NFL drafts.
The tables below list how MLB, MLS, and the NBA drafts should be ordered according to this principle. (I don't have the NHL list here, yet.) If a team has never won a championship, then the year they started in the league is used, and that year appears in parenthesis.
|
| Major League Baseball
| Draft Position
| Team
| Last Won (or Year Founded)
|
| 1
| Cleveland Indians
| 1948
|
| 2
| Texas Rangers
| (Founded 1961)
|
| 3-5
| Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, and San Diego Padres
| (Founded 1969)
|
| 6
| Seattle Mariners
| (Founded 1977)
|
| 7
| Pittsburgh Pirates
| 1979
|
| 8
| Baltimore Orioles
| 1983
|
| 9
| Detroit Tigers
| 1984
|
| 10
| NY Mets
| 1986
|
| 11
| LA Dodgers
| 1988
|
| 12
| Oakland Athletics
| 1989
|
| 13
| Cincinnati Reds
| 1990
|
| 14
| Minnesota Twins
| 1991
|
| 15
| Colorado Rockies
| (Founded 1993)
|
| 16
| Toronto Blue Jays
| 1993
|
| 17
| Atlanta Braves
| 1995
|
| 18
| Tampa Bay Rays
| (Founded 1998)
|
| 19
| Arizona Diamondbacks
| 2001
|
| 20
| LA Angels
| 2002
|
| 21
| Miami Marlins
| 2003
|
| 22
| Chicago White Sox
| 2005
|
| 23
| Philadelpha Phillies
| 2008
|
| 24
| NY Yankees
| 2009
|
| 25
| St. Louis Cardinals
| 2011
|
| 26
| Boston Red Sox
| 2013
|
| 27
| SF Giants
| 2014, 2012, 2010
|
| 28
| Kansas City Royals
| 2015
|
| 29
| Chicago Cubs
| 2016, 1908
|
| 30
| Houston Astros
| 2017
|
|
| Major League Soccer
| Draft Position
| Team
| Last Won (or Year Founded)
|
| 1-3 (Tied)
| New England Revs, NY Red Bulls, FC Dallas
| Founded 1996 and have never been Champions.
|
| 4
| Chicago Fire
| 1998
|
| 5
| San Jose Earthquakes
| 2003
|
| 6
| DC United
| 2004
|
| 7
| Houston Dynamo
| 2007
|
| 8
| Columbus Crew
| 2008
|
| 9
| Real Salt Lake
| 2009
|
| 10
| Phildelphia Union
| (Founded 2010)
|
| 11
| Colorado Rapids
| 2010
|
| 12
| Vancouver Whitecaps
| (Founded 2011)
|
| 13
| Montreal Impact
| 2012
|
| 14
| Sporting Kansas City
| 2013
|
| 15
| LA Galaxy
| 2014
|
| 16-17
| NYC FC and Orlando City FC
| (Founded 2015)
|
| 18
| Portland Timbers
| 2015
|
| 19
| Seattle Sounders
| 2016
|
| 20-21
| Atlanta United and Minnesota United
| (Founded 2017)
|
| 22
| Toronto FC
| 2017 Champions
|
LA FC is due to start playing in 2018. Miami FC is approved, but unclear when it will start playing. Nashville is due to start in 2020.
|
|
| National Basketball Association
| Draft Position
| Team
| Last Won (or Year Founded)
|
| 1
| Sacramento Kings
| 1951
|
| 2
| Atlanta Hawks
| 1958
|
| 3
| Phoenix Suns
| (Founded 1968)
|
| 4
| LA Clippers
| (Founded 1970)
|
| 5
| Milwaukee Bucks
| 1971
|
| 6
| NY Knicks
| 1973
|
| 7
| Utah Jazz
| 1974
|
| 8-10
| Indiana Pacers, Denver Nuggets & NY Nets
| (Joined NBA in 1976)
|
| 11
| Portland TrailBlazers
| 1977
|
| 12
| Washington Wizards
| 1978
|
| 13
| Philadelphia 76ers
| 1983
|
| 14
| Charlotte Hornets
| (Founded 1988)
|
| 15-16
| Orlando Magic & Michigan Timberwolves
| (Founded 1989)
|
| 17-18
| Memphis Grizzlies and Toronto Raptors
| (Founded 1995)
|
| 19
| Houston Rockets
| Won in 1995
|
| 20
| Chicago Bulls
| 1998
|
| 21
| New Orleans Pelicans
| (Founded 2002)
|
| 22
| Detroit Pistons
| 2004
|
| 23
| Boston Celtics
| 2008
|
| 24
| LA Lakers
| 2010
|
| 25
| Dallas Mavericks
| 2011
|
| 26
| Oklahoma City Thunder
| 2012
|
| 27
| Miami Heat
| 2013
|
| 28
| San Antonio Spurs
| 2014
|
| 29
| Cleveland Cavaliers
| 2016
|
| 30
| Golden State Warriors
| 2017, 2015
|
|
Sources:
Wikipedia: List of World Series Champions
Wikipedia: List of MLS Cup Champions
Wikipedia: List of NBA Champions
You can contact me, Jim Lindsay, at jim@jerel.com -- especially if you spot something that is incorrect! :)