NBA Approves New Anti-Tanking Rules, Draft Lottery Changes to Penalize Worst Teams

The NBA's proposed "3-2-1" draft lottery system designed to curb tanking was passed by the league's Board of Governors on Thursday.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, the board voted in favor of the proposal 29-1 with the Memphis Grizzlies being the lone dissenter.

Per Charania, the new system includes "expanding the draft lottery from 14 to 16 teams, a relegation zone where the bottom 3 teams get penalized with lessened chances for the No. 1 pick, and flattened odds."

Charania added that the 3-2-1 lottery system will be put in place next season for the 2027 NBA draft, and it will be utilized through at least the 2029 NBA draft before a decision is made whether to keep or alter it.

On top of the new lottery, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver now has greater authority to punish teams deemed to be tanking as well.

According to Charania, potential punishments include fines up to $10 million, forfeiture of draft picks, changing of draft position and changing of draft odds.

The current lottery system includes the 14 teams that did not reach the playoffs, and the teams with the three worst records have an equal 14 percent chance to land the No. 1 overall pick.

Under the new system, the teams with the three worst records will only get two lottery balls for the No. 1 pick, while the teams that finish with the fourth- through 10th-worst records will receive three lottery balls.

In addition to hurting the very worst teams' odds of landing the top pick, the new system states that no team can get the No. 1 pick in back-to-back years, and no team can pick in the top five in three consecutive years.

Silver has been outspoken about the need to prevent tanking moving forward, telling reporters in March, "I do think ultimately this is a decision that needs to be made at the ownership level. It has business implications, has basketball implications, has integrity implications for the league. So, it's one that we take very seriously, and we are going to fix it. Full stop."

This season, eight teams won 26 or fewer games, and five teams finished with at least 60 losses.

The Washington Wizards, who had the worst record at 17-65, won the lottery and the chance to select BYU forward AJ Dybantsa or Kansas guard Darryn Peterson No. 1 overall.

Under the new lottery rules, the Wizards would have had a worse chance at the No. 1 pick than the teams with the fourth- through 10th-worst records.