The NBA aims to combat tanking with three comprehensive proposals they presented to the board of governors.
The NBA is looking to combat tanking that has been pervasive in the league as team’s chase the top lottery pick. On Wednesday, they presented three comprehensive concepts for anti-taking to its board of governors during the league’s meetings in New York. According to ESPN's Shams Charania, each proposed concept is expected to be modified ahead of a formal vote in May. While each of the concepts are markedly different from one another, they all share a vast change from the current format: teams who make the playoffs will be brought into the lottery process.
Proposal 1 would include 18 teams in the lottery, the bottom 10 who miss the play-in tournament, and the eight who qualify. The bottom 10 teams would all have an equal 8% chance to move up, and the remaining 20% of odds will distribute among the eight play-in teams in descending order. All 18 spots would be drawn in the lottery.
Proposal 2 would include 22 teams, the bottom 10 who miss the play-in, the eight who qualify, and the four playoff teams that lose in the first round. Those rankings will be based on their record over the last two seasons, just as the WNBA does for its lottery system. The teams would need to reach a minimum win total floor each season in this format. The top four spots would be drawn in the lottery in this format, as it is currently done.
Proposal 3 is a “five-by-five” method in which the same 18 teams from Proposal 1 are included in the lottery. However, the teams with the five worst records would have the same odds, and they would descend from there, with a lottery drawing for each of the top five picks. After those selections, there would be a second lottery for the remaining 13 teams.
Tanking has been prominent this season as a considerable number of teams have started dropping their final games of the year to hopefully improve their lottery odds ahead of a talented draft class. The new concepts would reward the exact opposite. One of the teams involved in the tanking discourse has decidedly been the Dallas Mavericks, who have been looking to build a young core in the draft around franchise cornerstone Cooper Flagg.
Here is the full story from Mavs Roundtable writer Nathan Karseno on the NBA’s proposed concepts and how each would affect Dallas if they were active today.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was clear that change was coming after the league has been marred by teams chasing the top spots in drafts, especially this season ahead of a very deep class.