People used to be able to see the actual selection of the picks, such as with the Ewing draft lottery and it has since been moved to behind closed doors. That's added to the conspiracy theories as much as anything else. Put it out in the open, stupid people be damned. Besides, if the NBA actually wants an audience to watch the lottery, I'd imagine the actual selection would be much more interesting than how it is revealed now (widows, sick kids, god knows who else representing their teams).