The NBA has officially entered a new era in its fight against tanking.
The league announced Thursday that the Board of Governors approved a sweeping new draft lottery structure called the “3-2-1 Lottery,” a system specifically designed to discourage teams from intentionally losing games to improve draft position.
The new format will begin with the 2027 NBA Draft and remain in place through at least 2029.
Among the biggest changes: The lottery will now expand from 14 to 16 teams while flattening odds throughout the non-playoff field.
More notably, the NBA will now actively penalize the league’s three worst teams through what it calls “draft relegation.”
Those teams will lose one lottery ball, reducing their odds at landing the No. 1 overall pick.
Meanwhile, teams that narrowly miss the playoffs through the Play-In Tournament will still receive lottery opportunities, though with fewer lottery balls than traditional non-playoff teams.
The NBA also approved several additional restrictions aimed at curbing long-term tanking strategies.
Teams will no longer be allowed to land the No. 1 overall pick in consecutive drafts or receive top-five picks in three straight years. The league also tightened rules surrounding draft-pick protections in trades.
Perhaps most significantly, the NBA expanded its disciplinary authority related to tanking. Under the new system, the league can now reduce lottery odds, alter draft positions and issue major fines to teams found violating competitive integrity standards.
According to the NBA, the changes came after months of meetings with owners, executives and league stakeholders following growing concern over the number of teams openly jockeying for lottery positioning late this past season.
In short, the NBA is no longer simply hoping teams avoid tanking. Now it’s building rules specifically designed to punish it.
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