{"id":245701,"date":"2026-05-28T21:54:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T21:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/28\/nba-approves-radical-change-to-draft-lottery-as-teams-punished-for-tanking-ploy\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T21:54:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T21:54:00","slug":"nba-approves-radical-change-to-draft-lottery-as-teams-punished-for-tanking-ploy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/28\/nba-approves-radical-change-to-draft-lottery-as-teams-punished-for-tanking-ploy\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA approves radical change to draft lottery as teams punished for \u2018tanking\u2019 ploy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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NBA teams on Thursday approved reforms intended to discourage teams from deliberately losing games in order to receive better players in the following season\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

The policy of giving bottom-ranked teams better access to upcoming talent, originally intended to keep the league balanced and competitive, has led to widespread \u201ctanking\u201d, especially in recent seasons.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of the 2026 NBA Finals LIVE with ESPN on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1 ><\/a><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

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Multiple low-ranked teams have benched their best players, even when fit. Some received fines for \u201cmanagement of their rosters,\u201d but NBA commissioner Adam Silver warned that the financial penalties weren\u2019t working and has pushed for more potent changes.<\/p>\n

Under the new system, the three very worst teams will now be punished by receiving slightly lower odds of receiving a high pick in the NBA Draft lottery than the teams that finish immediately above them.<\/p>\n

Previously, they received the highest odds of picking first. There will also be more teams in the lottery — 16 of the NBA\u2019s 30 teams, rather than 14.<\/p>\n

The reforms are \u201cdesigned to eliminate incentives for teams to prioritise their position in the Draft over winning games,\u201d and \u201cflattens\u201d lottery odds among the teams, said an NBA statement.<\/p>\n

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Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke. AP Photo\/Brandon Dill<\/span>Source: AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The system, which will take effect from the 2027 draft, is known as the \u201c3-2-1\u201d lottery, referring to the number of lottery balls each team receives.<\/p>\n

Seven low-ranked teams will receive three balls each, giving them a roughly eight percent chance each of winning the top draft pick.<\/p>\n

But the three lowest-ranked teams will receive just two balls, and therefore a 5.4 percent chance — a punishment referred to as being \u201cdraft relegated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two balls, or just one ball, will be granted to six teams that squeezed into the previous season\u2019s play-in tournament by finishing between seventh and tenth in their conference.<\/p>\n

While the threat of being \u201cdraft relegated\u201d will be a bitter pill to swallow for the league\u2019s worst teams, they are afforded a small protection – they are guaranteed to be able to pick no lower than 12th in the draft.<\/p>\n

The new rules were reportedly approved by representatives of 29 NBA teams at the league\u2019s board of governors, with only the Memphis Grizzlies voting against.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s NBA Draft begins June 23. The Washington Wizards – who had the worst record in the league this past season – won the lottery and will pick first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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NBA teams on Thursday approved reforms intended to discourage teams from deliberately losing games in order to receive better players in the following season\u2019s draft. The policy of giving bottom-ranked teams better access to upcoming talent, originally intended to keep the league balanced and competitive, has led to widespread \u201ctanking\u201d, especially in recent seasons. Watch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":245702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6807],"tags":[156],"class_list":{"0":"post-245701","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leagues-cups","8":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}