BOSTON—Tanking in the NBA and what should be done to prevent it took an intriguing twist Friday, when former Raptors general manager Bryan Colangelo admitted that he tried to improve the team’s draft position in the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season.

As part of a Basketball Analytics panel at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, during discussion about revamping the league's draft lottery system, Colangelo shared a story that executives typically keep to themselves.

“I like (the proposal) because there's no assurances (of getting a good pick) when you do tank,” Colangelo said. “Admittedly, I will say, I tried to tank a couple years ago.

“And I didn't come out and say, ‘Coach (Dwane Casey), you've got to lose games.’ I never said that. I wanted to have him establish a winning tradition and a culture and all of that, but I wanted to do it in the framework of playing and developing young players, and with that comes losing. There's just no way to avoid that, but I never once said, ‘You've got to lose this game.’”

Colangelo reflected on the ripple effect of that season, as the Raptors finished 23-43 and ultimately drafted Terrence Ross out of the University of Washington with the eighth pick. Because Toronto had finished with the same record as the Golden State Warriors, they had a coin flip to determine which team picked first. Less than a year later, Colangelo was, in essence, replaced by former Nuggets general manager Masai Ujiri. Colangelo stepped down as team president three months later.

“Just one less loss (that season) would have put us in a coin toss for (the Trail Blazers') Damian Lillard potentially (he was taken sixth), and that was a need that we had on our team that year, a point guard need,” Colangelo said. “So it would have kind of taken us on a whole different route in this rebuilding process, and of course if we had lost a lot more games we would have had better odds to get (the Pelicans') Anthony Davis, the big prize that year. We're looking at it, and it didn't work out.

“There's no assurances (in the lottery). I do like the certainty of the (proposed) process. I think there are some merits to obviously take it to the next extent, except I wish we could start it sooner because there really is some ugly basketball being played.”

The panel also included former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens, TNT analyst and former player Steve Kerr, Celtics assistant general manager Mike Zarren and was moderated by Zach Lowe of Grantland.com. Zarren is the author of the proposal being considered by the NBA.

“So the basic idea is we're going to allocate all the picks in perpetuity,” Zarren said. “It would allow for more certainty in team decision making. It's fair. You're not subject to vagaries of the lottery, moving up or down, and it … eliminates the fan perception that teams should be losing.”

Zarren said his proposal had been altered slightly since it was first publicized in a mid-December Grantland article. In response to criticism that a projected No. 1 pick might make his decision to enter the NBA based on which team he'd be slated to play for, Zarren said the lottery system would remain for the top three teams.