The Miami Heat reportedly are in favor of the NBA changing its rules around the draft and tanking as the league attempts to stop teams from employing the strategy in the future.
Some feel the NBA has a major issue with tanking at the moment, as multiple squads that are out of the mix for the playoffs appear to be trying to land better picks in the 2026 NBA Draft by sitting some of their best players.
The Utah Jazz recently came under fire (and were fined) for not playing Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the fourth quarters of games. The Indiana Pacers were also recently fined for violating the player participation policy. Elsewhere around the league, some other happenings have also led to concerns about the topic.
“The Heat expected change, by the way,” Five Reasons Sports’ Ethan J. Skolnick said. “I was told before the season that the Heat were involved in some of the proposals. Some they approve of, some they don’t as much, okay. But again, the Heat are a team that doesn’t wanna tank, okay, doesn’t respect tanking, okay. So, they’re in favor of some kind of change here. But at the same time, some of the changes that are being talked about, I don’t know if they would necessarily benefit Miami.”
The Heat have made the playoffs in each of the last six seasons, and they’ve only had six seasons where they’ve finished under .500 since 2000. So, there’s no doubt that the organization would prefer a system that rewards teams that try to win over squads that attempt to lose simply to improve their draft positioning.
Miami reportedly doesn’t see much of a difference between having the No. 8 overall pick or No. 15 overall pick in an average draft, which seems to be one of several reasons why the franchise doesn’t believe in tanking.
The Heat have been in the play-in tournament in multiple seasons in a row, and they’re headed toward a similar fate in the 2025-26 campaign.
Miami currently holds the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference and is two games over .500 as it prepares for the stretch run out of the All-Star break.
It’s unclear what the NBA will ultimately do to curb tanking in the future, but since the Heat constantly remain competitive, it shouldn’t have a negative impact on the franchise.
Miami will resume action out of the All-Star break on Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks, who are also in the play-in tournament mix in the Eastern Conference.