NBA weighs 3 new anti-tanking concepts ahead of expected vote

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27 March 2026 at 17:31

Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that the NBA plans to address tanking concerns, with possible changes aimed for the 2027 draft. He confirmed that serious conversations happened over the last two days during the league’s Board of Governors meeting.

Tanking is not new to the NBA, but recent events have made it harder to ignore. The league fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000 for clearly putting draft positioning ahead of actually trying to win games.

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NBA’s 3 anti-tanking proposals

That’s pushed the issue to the front of the line. On Friday, Shams Charania reported that the NBA presented three different anti-tanking proposals to the Board of Governors, with more tweaks expected before a formal vote in May.

The first proposal involves an 18-team lottery that pulls in seeds 7 through 15 from both conferences. It flattens the odds by giving the bottom 10 teams an equal 8% shot at the top pick. The remaining 20% gets split among teams ranked 11 through 18, and then a full lottery drawing happens for all the other picks.

The second proposal goes bigger with a 22-team lottery based on two-year performance records. It even brings in the eight teams knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. This one also sets a minimum win threshold each season, something like 25 wins, and teams that fall short get adjusted accordingly.

The third proposal introduces an 18-team format called “5 by 5,” which gives the bottom five teams equal odds at landing the top pick. After that, there’s a separate drawing process for the rest of the slots.

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NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks to media after the 75th NBA All Star Game. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Team owners are expected to dig into these proposals in the coming weeks with their basketball operations people. The goal is to figure out what kind of impact each one would have and whether there are any problems nobody’s thinking about yet.

Governors, team presidents, and general managers will keep talking with the league office to refine things before the May vote.