Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that the NBA plans to address tanking concerns, with possible changes aimed for the 2027 draft. He confirmed that serious conversations happened over the last two days during the league’s Board of Governors meeting.
Tanking is not new to the NBA, but recent events have made it harder to ignore. The league fined the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000 for clearly putting draft positioning ahead of actually trying to win games.
Advertisement
MORE: WNBA reacts after Caitlin Clark’s off-court action catches attention
NBA’s 3 anti-tanking proposals
That’s pushed the issue to the front of the line. On Friday, Shams Charania reported that the NBA presented three different anti-tanking proposals to the Board of Governors, with more tweaks expected before a formal vote in May.
The first proposal involves an 18-team lottery that pulls in seeds 7 through 15 from both conferences. It flattens the odds by giving the bottom 10 teams an equal 8% shot at the top pick. The remaining 20% gets split among teams ranked 11 through 18, and then a full lottery drawing happens for all the other picks.
Advertisement
The NBA presented three comprehensive anti-tanking concepts to its Board of Governors on Wednesday, with modifications expected to each before a formal vote in May, per ESPN sources.
1. 18 teams in draft lottery (seeds 7-15 in each conference) – flattened odds, with bottom 10…
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 27, 2026
The second proposal goes bigger with a 22-team lottery based on two-year performance records. It even brings in the eight teams knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. This one also sets a minimum win threshold each season, something like 25 wins, and teams that fall short get adjusted accordingly.
The third proposal introduces an 18-team format called “5 by 5,” which gives the bottom five teams equal odds at landing the top pick. After that, there’s a separate drawing process for the rest of the slots.
Advertisement
MORE: 3-Time NBA Slam Dunk champ Mac McClung etches name in G League history
NBA commissioner Adam Silver
NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks to media after the 75th NBA All Star Game. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Team owners are expected to dig into these proposals in the coming weeks with their basketball operations people. The goal is to figure out what kind of impact each one would have and whether there are any problems nobody’s thinking about yet.
Governors, team presidents, and general managers will keep talking with the league office to refine things before the May vote.
—Enjoy free coverage of the top news & trending stories on The Big Lead—
MARCH MADNESS:2026 Sweet 16 TV schedule, game times & dates for NCAA Tournament
MLB:Predicting the winner of every MLB game on Friday, March 27, 2026
NFL:NFL pushes back Tom Brady’s sensational return to football
SPORTS MEDIA:Sweet 16 announcer pairings & TV schedule for 2026 NCAA Tournament
ENTERTAINMENT:2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards winners, Taylor Swift leads full list
VIRAL:Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce tower over 5-foot-3 Olympic champ Alysa Liu