Fall Protection: Preventing Extreme Bad Luck in Your Draft Lottery
Learn how fall protection limits work and why your league might want to use them to ensure fairness while keeping lottery excitement.
What is Fall Protection?
Fall protection is a lottery rule that limits how many spots a team can drop from their expected position. It prevents the worst team in your league from falling too far due to bad lottery luck.
This concept comes directly from the NBA Draft Lottery, where no team can fall more than 4 spots from their pre-lottery position. Our system lets you customize this to any number that works for your league.
Why Use Fall Protection?
Without fall protection, a team with the worst record could theoretically fall to the last lottery pick—a devastating outcome that feels deeply unfair, even if mathematically possible.
Fall protection ensures that while bad teams might not win the lottery, they won't be completely punished by random chance either.
How Fall Protection Works
Here's how fall protection applies in practice:
| Team Rank | Expected Pick | With 4-Spot Fall Protection |
|---|---|---|
| Worst Record (#1) | Pick 1 | Cannot fall below Pick 5 |
| 2nd Worst (#2) | Pick 2 | Cannot fall below Pick 6 |
| 3rd Worst (#3) | Pick 3 | Cannot fall below Pick 7 |
| 4th Worst (#4) | Pick 4 | Cannot fall below Pick 8 |
The lottery runs normally, but if a team would fall beyond their protection limit, they are automatically assigned the highest available pick within their protected range.
Choosing Your Fall Protection Spots
The right fall protection setting depends on your league size and philosophy:
- 4 spots (NBA-style): The most common setting. Worst team can fall to pick 5 at most.
- 3 spots (Conservative): More protection for bad teams. Good for smaller leagues.
- 5-6 spots (Liberal): More lottery variance while still preventing extremes.
- No protection: Full chaos mode—every pick is truly random within weighted odds.
Fall Protection by League Size
Recommended fall protection based on how many teams are in your lottery:
6-8 Teams in Lottery
Recommend 2-3 spots protection. Smaller pools mean each spot matters more.
10-12 Teams in Lottery
Recommend 4 spots protection (NBA-style). The sweet spot for most leagues.
14+ Teams in Lottery
Recommend 4-5 spots protection. Larger pools can handle more variance.
Maximum Chaos
No protection. Only for leagues that embrace total randomness!
How to Enable Fall Protection
Setting up fall protection in Dynasty Lottery is simple:
- Load your league (Sleeper or manual entry)
- Configure your lottery weights for each team
- Toggle on "Enable Fall Protection" in the settings
- Set the number of spots (default is 4, NBA-style)
- Run your lottery—protection is applied automatically
Real Example: Fall Protection in Action
Imagine a 10-team lottery with 4-spot fall protection. Team A has the worst record and should pick 1st. The lottery runs and:
- Teams B, C, D, and E all get lucky and win picks 1-4
- Without protection, Team A would fall to pick 5, 6, or worse
- With 4-spot protection, Team A is guaranteed pick 5 at worst
The worst team still has to accept some bad luck, but they won't be completely robbed of a good draft position.
Fall Protection vs. Locked Picks
Don't confuse fall protection with locked picks—they serve different purposes:
Fall Protection
Limits how far ANY team can drop. Applied automatically based on standings order.
Locked Picks
Assigns a SPECIFIC team to a SPECIFIC pick. Used for trades, penalties, or commissioner decisions.
Ready to Run a Protected Lottery?
Try our free draft lottery generator with built-in fall protection support.
Get Started Free