The NBA is looking to make radical changes to its rules to avoid tanking, a persistent problem in the league over the last several years. Earlier in April, they introduced a new 3-2-1 system for the Draft lottery.
Now the league office has reportedly circulated another proposal among teams last week that expands the NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s powers to further penalize teams beyond the newly agreed-upon system.
The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov recently reported the details on the new anti-tanking proposal as Adam Silver looks to further eradicate any team’s infamous intentions to purposely lose.
“The NBA intends to implement these prohibitions to promote a fair distribution of player talent’ according to the proposal. These restrictions would apply only to each team’s own pick, without regard to whether that pick has been retained by the team or traded to, and thus held by, another team,’ the proposal said, according to league sources,” wrote Vorkunov.
“The rules won’t prevent a team from making the No. 1 pick in two straight seasons if it did so the first year with another team’s pick and then won the lottery the second year with its own selection.”
“NBA commissioner Adam Silver can still alter the proposal before Thursday’s board of governors vote, and team owners could suggest changes. Silver would gain a lot of latitude to punish tanking offenders under the proposed system.”
“He would be able to fine a team up to $10 million, force them to forfeit or transfer draft picks, reduce lottery odds, change draft positions, or suspend team officials, according to league sources.”
“The 3-2-1 system is scheduled to be in place for three seasons, through the 2029 draft, which is also when either the league or players’ union could opt out of the current collective bargaining agreement. The NBA will assess what it intends to do in the future.”
“A draft credit system is seen as the leading contender to take effect when this runs out, according to league and team sources, and is favored by several team executives. The league will begin to study it closely once this reform passes.”
The league office is seriously looking to eliminate tanking from its roots to not just promote intense competition, but also ensure that teams don’t bend the rules intended to protect weak teams in their favor to have an unfair advantage at a later point in time.
In my opinion, while the new proposal seems justified from an objective-oriented lens (to eliminate tanking), it could also heavily increase the scope of powers given to the commissioner, which would warrant new systems of investigation into a team.
The power to suspend officials, for example, has the potential to later be exploited if it ends up in the wrong commissioner’s hands. Therefore, if teams decide to ratify this proposal as well, they should ensure that there is a guarantee of accountability from the NBA commissioner enshrined somewhere in the terms of that agreement.
