The NBA is taking its next step toward addressing tanking.
The league presented three separate proposals to the Board of Governors this week aimed at discouraging teams from bottoming out, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
A formal vote could come as soon as May, with potential changes targeted for the 2026-27 season.
Nothing is set yet. But the ideas are significant.
One proposal would expand the draft lottery from 14 to 18 teams, adding the seventh and eighth seeds from each conference. The bottom 10 teams would each receive equal odds (8 percent) for the No. 1 pick.
Another concept goes further, expanding the lottery to 22 teams, including play-in clubs and first-round playoff exits. That model would base lottery positioning on a two-year record and include a minimum win threshold to prevent extreme losing.
A third proposal also expands the lottery to 18 teams, but flattens odds among the bottom five while ensuring none of those teams could fall lower than 10th in the draft order.
It would also introduce a second lottery drawing for the remaining teams.
League officials are expected to spend the coming weeks refining the proposals alongside team executives. Commissioner Adam Silver has already made the league’s stance clear.
“We are going to fix it … full stop,” he said.
That part isn’t changing. How they get there still might.
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