I’ll clarify what I meant. Lol. When you get mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, the team’s point total starting the day eliminated goes into a separate category of points. Of those eliminated teams, the one with the most points gets the first overall pick. Teams get eliminated at different times, but the worst team gets the most incentive to keep fighting for wins.
Teams eliminated very late in the season have nearly no shot of getting the first since they won’t have enough games to generate points.
If two teams are eliminated with a months left in the season, it really gives them and their fan base reason to still watch and care. Also gives management reason to still try to win. It’s slightly “unfair” because the worst team eliminated first gets the most games to generate points, but they also are the worst so have the hardest time getting points. A team eliminated two weeks later likely has less games to play but clearly are a slightly better team so a win might be easier.
It’s kind of a version of soccer relegation style. You may suck, but your fans still have very important reasons to care when you are in the suck zone.