Most agree that tanking was a problem in the NBA this season. The bigger debate is whether it was the result of a particularly loaded draft class or whether the problem needs to be addressed by major reforms to the lottery system.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver is in the latter camp. Silver has expressed that he is ready to make major changes to the lottery process, and he is taking steps toward making that official with a new proposal aimed at curbing tanking.
Tanking isn’t a brand-new issue this season by any means, but an especially talented crop of talent at the top of the draft worsened the problem, particularly after none of the league’s very worst teams landed phenom Cooper Flagg a year ago.
Here’s what you need to know about Silver’s new anti-tanking proposal.
MORE: Updated Sporting News’ 2026 NBA mock draft
NBA anti-tanking rules
Silver is set to formally propose anti-tanking rules that expand the lottery and penalize the teams with the three worst records in the NBA by reducing their chances of landing a top pick.
The key tenets of the proposal “have a majority of the support from teams,” ESPN reports, though minor changes could still be made. A vote will be held on May 28 to formally approve the changes, which can’t go into effect until the 2026-27 season.
Silver and the NBA “flattened” the lottery ahead of the 2019 draft, ensuring the teams with the three worst records all had the same odds to win the No. 1 pick while boosting the odds of teams further down in the lottery. Lottery wins by the Hawks and Mavericks in the years since have demonstrated how difficult it already is for the NBA’s worst teams to bank on landing the No. 1 pick.
Here are the details of Silver’s proposal.
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NBA draft lottery reform
Silver is proposing a “3-2-1” lottery system, which refers to the number of lottery balls teams would have.
Teams who finish in the 4-10 range — the team with the fourth-worst record through the team with the 10th-worst record — would receive the most lottery balls, with three. The three teams with the worst records would only receive two lottery balls, a component aimed at curbing tanking.
The lottery would include six additional teams, rather than the current four. No. 9 and No. 10 seeds in the Play-In Tournament would receive two lottery balls, the same number as the teams with the three worst records, while the losers of the Play-In Tournament games between the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds would each receive one lottery ball.
The lottery would be drawn for each of the top 16 picks, rather than just the top four picks as it is now. A team with the worst record could theoretically fall as far as the No. 12 pick under the new system.
The system would also prevent teams from winning the No. 1 pick in consecutive years and from picking in the top five in three consecutive years. That means the Spurs, who selected Victor Wembanyama in 2023 and Stephon Castle in 2024, would not have been allowed to land a top-five pick and select Dylan Harper in 2025. They wouldn’t be the only ones:
Interesting provision: “no team would be able to win three consecutive top-five picks”
Would have prevented:
Spurs (Wemby, Castle, Harper)
Pistons (Cade, Ivey, Ausar, Holland)
Cavs (Mobley, Garland, Okoro)
Rockets (Green, Jabari, Amen, Reed) https://t.co/ugy6idcWZ0— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) April 28, 2026
The new format, which would come with a clause to revisit anti-tanking rules after the 2029 draft, can be approved by owners on May 28.
MORE: Sporting News’ All-NBA Teams 2026
What is tanking in the NBA?
Tanking refers to the steps taken to intentionally lose in order to secure a better chance at a high draft pick.
By all accounts, tanking does not refer to the players on the court actually trying to lose games. Players have far too much on the line to go out and make an effort to lose, especially considering the players who actually see the court on tanking teams are often fighting for their own NBA future.
Instead, tanking is more commonly an effort by the front office to weaken the active roster to the point that the team simply isn’t good enough to win many games. That can include claiming players are injured and sitting them out of games, or trading away so many pieces that only young and inexperienced players remain.
The Utah Jazz came under fire during the regular season when they sat stars Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the fourth quarter of multiple games in which they had a lead. Markkanen and Jackson were both later shut down for the season, with the franchise citing injuries.