The NBA’s war against tanking has taken a new turn, and it will likely change the way teams develop their rosters for years to come.
According to the latest update, revealed by ESPN’s Shams Charania, the NBA’s Board of Governors has just approved new anti-tanking rules designed to punish teams that finish with a bottom-three record. It includes expanding the lottery from 14 to 16 teams while flattening odds for the No. 1 pick. It comes after weeks of meetings between NBA owners and shareholders.
“Overall, there will be flattened odds, but most importantly, the bottom three teams will be punished with lessened odds moving forward for the No. 1 overall pick,” said Shams on NBA Today. “It’s called a 3-2-1 lottery reform, because if you’re a bottom-three team, you will be penalized with fewer lottery balls (two) than other potential teams that are slotted 4-10. I’m told the vote passed 29-1.”
It’s being described as a “radical response” to “radical behavior,” but not every team agreed to the reform. The Memphis Grizzlies were the only team to vote against it, in an effort to protect their own assets.
“They were the lone team to vote against, and that’s because they have the Utah Jazz’s pick next year… because of the new rule, which has a couple of stipulations: you can’t pick No 1 in back-to-back years. The second stipulation is that you can’t have a top-five pick in three consecutive years,” Charania added. “So that Jazz pick now won’t be a top-five pick. The Grizzlies are receiving the bad end of an unintended consequence.”
While the new stipulations will have some negative consequences, they bring good changes overall that should redefine how teams build for the future. Instead of rewarding the worst teams with the best odds, the league is incentivizing winning by giving the biggest advantage to those with the 4-10 worst records. In 2025-26, that means teams like the Grizzlies, Mavericks, Kings, and Bulls would be in the best position.
At the end of the day, the NBA wants to send a clear message: winning is the goal. With at least six teams suspected of tanking during the season (including two teams that were fined), the issue was bound to become a much bigger crisis without the NBA’s intervention. Now, Adam Silver has been given the full authority to enforce the NBA’s competitive culture.
“The Board of Governors has now given Adam Silver increased disciplinary authority to implement a wide range of actions, depending on tanking violations moving forward,” said Shams. “Fines up to $10 million, he can take draft picks away, he can have teams forfeit their picks, he can change picks, he can change odds. So this now gives Adam Silver increased authority.”
Adam Silver has always been outspoken on the tanking epidemic, and now he’ll have the power to punish any teams found guilty of the practice. Although all incentives for tanking are gone, it’s highly unlikely we’ll see teams actively try to throw their games.
For all rebuilding squads, it makes much more sense to take a slow, methodical approach to team building so they can stay competitive without sacrificing their future pieces. The result should be a much more competitive NBA, finally free from the practice that has wasted so many games.
