NBA GM Explains Why He's 'Not Trading Any Picks Beyond 2029' After Proposed Lottery Changes

Uncertainty regarding what the future of the NBA draft lottery looks like could lead for at least one team to a decline in trades involving picks, NBA insider Jake Fischer reported Wednesday.

According to Fischer, one NBA general manager said in response to proposed draft lottery changes: "I'm not trading any picks beyond 2029."

The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov previously reported NBA executives "have predicted that first-round picks would be harder to trade under the new rules."

The NBA board of governors is set to vote Thursday on a new draft lottery format that would be applied through the 2029 draft, per Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor.

The new format would give the three teams that finish the regular season at the bottom of the NBA standings lower odds of receiving the top pick than other franchises finishing in the bottom ten, according to O'Connor.

These proposed changes would give each team in 20th through 27th place 8.1 percent odds at the top pick.

Teams finishing in 28th through 30th place would have the same odds to win the No. 1 selection as teams finishing in the ninth and 10th play-in seeds (5.4 percent), according to O'Connor.

Those aren't the only changes that could impact the value of picks in the 2027 through 2029 drafts.

Under the proposed rules, teams would not be allowed to land the first pick in back-to-back drafts or take home top-five selections from three straight drafts, O'Connor reported.

According to Vorkunov, multiple NBA executives at the February scouting combine "bemoaned that these changes are coming after those picks have been dealt."

Vorkunov noted that only 16 teams have control of their own first-round picks in 2027, a number that drops to just 12 teams over the 2028 and 2029 drafts. All of those selections were dealt by general managers with a different understanding as to what each pick would be worth.

Should the changes be put into place, the NBA is set to consider an alternative draft lottery format after the 2029 draft, according to O'Connor. That means general managers can't currently make projections as to the value of picks in 2030 and beyond.

Should the vote pass these week, how these changes impact the trade market over the next three seasons could influence what the lottery looks like in 2030 and beyond.