The NBA is ready to do something about tanking.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Thursday that commissioner Adam Silver told NBA general managers that the league plans to implement “anti-tanking rule changes for next season.”
The possible changes discussed this week and in January, per Charania, include:
– First-round picks can be protected only in the top four or top-14-plus
– Lottery odds freeze at the trade deadline or a later date
– No longer allowing a team to pick top four in consecutive years and/or after consecutive bottom-three finishes
– Teams can’t pick top four the year after making conference finals
– Lottery odds allocated based on two-year records
– Lottery extended to include all play-in teams
– Flatten odds for all lottery teams
The reported crackdown comes as nearly a third of the league appears to be jockeying for draft position before a loaded 2026 class.
Talk of how to deal with tanking has taken over the NBA in recent weeks, and especially intensified after Silver fined the Jazz ($500,000) and Pacers ($100,000) for violating the NBA’s player participation policy last week.
“Overt behavior like this that prioritizes draft position over winning undermines the foundation of NBA competition and we will respond accordingly to any further actions that compromise the integrity of our games,” Silver said in a statement after doling out the punishments. “Additionally, we are working with our Competition Committee and Board of Governors to implement further measures to root out this type of conduct.”
Silver appeared ready to tweak the current draft system, which incentivizes losing to land a higher draft pick, and, in turn, bring in young, star-level players, during a press conference over All-Star Weekend.
“We’ve got to look at some fresh thinking here,” Silver said. “What we’re doing, what we’re seeing right now is not working. There’s no question about it.”
Earlier on Thursday, Suns owner Mat Ishbia ripped tanking as “loser behavior” in a long rant on social media.
Mavericks minority owner Mark Cuban had a different take, writing on X that the “NBA should embrace tanking.”
