NBA Says It's Putting An 'END' to Tanking
The tanking problem has been an issue that has frustrated NBA commissioner Adam Silver (and fans) for years now. Teams that are clearly not making the playoffs are basically throwing in the towel and trying NOT to win games in order to sink down the standings and get the best possible draft lottery odds they can.
But Silver says he's seen enough and is drawing the line on tanking. Here and now. A Board of Governors meeting will take place in May, and they will vote on a change to how the draft lottery system works in order to put an end to tanking.
Adam Silver announces there will be a vote in May to address tanking in the NBA: "We're going to fix it. Full stop."
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) March 25, 2026
"We're going to fix it. Full stop."
"I do think ultimately this is a decision that needs to be made at the ownership level," Silver said following a two-day NBA board of governors meeting. "It has business implications, has basketball implications, has integrity implications for the league."
Silver said there will be fundamental changes to the league's draft system.
Currently, a lottery takes place in May involving all of the 14 teams that missed the playoffs that season, and they have weighted odds of moving up or down in the draft order for June's draft of the top college players in the nation. So the incentives are for teams to finish lower in the standings to get higher odds of moving up in the draft.
"Certainly going into next season, the incentives will be completely different than they are now," Silver said.
