The NBA has decided to put a full stop to the misuse of the draft odds. With teams deliberately benching their players to win the race to the bottom, the league is moving towards an overhaul of its current draft lottery system to address the tanking problem and eradicate this mentality.
The 2025-26 regular season is entering its final stretch, and the conversation has shifted from playoff seeding to systemic reform. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has consistently spoken about protecting the league’s integrity and essence, especially as a loaded 2026 draft class approaches.
Details of the NBA’s Proposed Anti-Tanking Rules
On March 25, the league office took a major step forward, presenting three revolutionary concepts to the Board of Governors to ensure that every team has a reason to remain competitive until the playoffs begin in April.
ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news via social media and reported the details of the league’s proposal.
He wrote, “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.”
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.
18 teams in draft lottery (seeds 7-15 in each conference) – flattened odds, with bottom 10…
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 27, 2026
Highlighting the intricacies of the proposal, Charania added:
“1) 18 teams in draft lottery (seeds 7-15 in each conference) – flattened odds, with bottom 10 teams having an 8% chance, the remaining 20% odds distributed in decreasing order for 11 through 18, and a lottery drawing for all 18 picks.”
“2) 22 teams in lottery using 2-year record (seeds 7-15, plus the four playoff first round exits in both conferences). Lottery teams would reach a minimum win total floor in each season, such as 25 wins. If a team falls short of the floor, it gets slotted to meet the floor. Top 4 drawn as part of lottery, as is currently.”
“3) 18 teams in a ‘5 by 5’ lottery – bottom 5 teams have equal odds for the top pick, with lottery formed for picks 1-5. Bottom 5 teams have a floor at 10; those that fall out of top 5 get sorted in a separate drawing.”
Whether these proposals will completely stop the tanking issue or do more harm than good is all a matter of the future. For now, the teams and their operations staff will review these to understand how they’ll be impacted.
Why the NBA Is Targeting the Tanking Problem Now
Tanking is not a new phenomenon in the NBA. Teams have manipulated games to improve their draft odds. In 2021, ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, on his podcast “The Woj Pod,” stated that the Sixers’ tank “spooked the league” and led the NBA to take steps to prevent future tanking.
In 1984, the Houston Rockets staged one of the biggest tank-offs in the league’s history. They went 9-27 in their last 36 games to secure the worst record in the West. This helped boost their chances of drafting Hakeem Olajuwon.
However, in the 2025-26 season, this behavior reached a breaking point. The tanking epidemic has led to some harsh penalties and fines from the NBA. Earlier, the Utah Jazz were fined $500,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league” by sitting healthy players in the fourth quarter, and the Indiana Pacers were fined $100,000 for violating Player Participation Policies.
With the formal vote on the proposed solutions set for May 2026, these reforms aim to ensure that losing on purpose no longer guarantees a path to a franchise-altering superstar.
