NBA finalizing anti-tanking proposal — here are the sweeping changes league wants

The NBA’s new draft lottery proposal is here. 

The league is pushing an expanded “3-2-1 lottery” that would increase the number of teams from 14 to 16, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. 

The new system, which must be approved by NBA owners on May 28, is aimed at curbing tanking and would punish teams that finish with a bottom-five record. 

Under the proposal, “teams that do not qualify for the playoffs or play-in tournament but stay out of the relegation zone (spots four through 10) would receive three lottery balls each,” per Charania.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addresses the media following the Board of Governors meetings on March 25, 2026 at the St. Regis Hotel in New York City. NBAE via Getty Images

The teams with the three worst records would go to the relegation zone, meaning they “would have just two lottery balls but have a floor of the 12th pick, while the rest of the 13 lottery teams could fall as far as the 16th pick.”

Teams that undergo long-term tanking efforts would be punished as well. 

If approved, teams couldn’t win the lottery in back-to-back years or get three straight top-five picks. 

As tanking chatter grows louder around the NBA, the commissioner’s office is exploring a new way to make losing less appealing.

“We should have a system where you should hate to lose,” commissioner Adam Silver reportedly said on a recent conference call. “It shouldn’t be a badge of honor. Losing should be uncomfortable.”

The NBA Draft Lottery will likely see some significant changes next year. Anadolu via Getty Images

The current system sends 14 non-playoff teams to the lottery, where the franchises with the worst three records each have a 14 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick. 

The odds of winning the No. 1 pick decrease gradually for the other 11 teams outside the top three, from 12.5 percent for the team with the fourth-worst record to 0.7 percent for the team with the 14th-worst record.

“Incentives need to be fixed,” Silver said last month. “We will fix them. I’m looking forward to that.”

In March, Silver said the league will likely “need to do something more extreme than” previous changes with teams exhibiting “overt behavior… that prioritizes draft positioning over winning.”