The NBA is officially fed up with the race to the bottom. In a forceful message delivered to all 30 general managers this Thursday, Commissioner Adam Silver made it crystal clear: the league intends to implement strict “anti-tanking rule changes” for the 2026-27 season. Following a flurry of recent fines and blatantly obvious roster manipulation, the league is looking at “every possible remedy” to restore the integrity of the regular season.
The Catalyst: A Generational Draft Class and Blatant Benching
Tanking is not a new phenomenon, but the current season has pushed the league’s patience to the breaking point. The upcoming 2026 NBA Draft class is incredibly deep, featuring highly coveted prospects like AJ Dybantsa, Cameron Boozer, and Darryn Peterson. With such a massive prize at the end of the tunnel, teams have engaged in shameless “roster management” to rack up losses and improve their draft standing.
The NBA recently dropped the hammer on several franchises. The Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers were hit with massive fines (with reports of $500,000 for Utah and $100,000 for Indiana) for resting perfectly healthy players. For example, the Jazz suspiciously benched Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. in the fourth quarter of close games, while the Pacers held out Pascal Siakam, Bennedict Mathurin, and T.J. McConnell despite them being fit to play. Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia even took to X (formerly Twitter) to call the current tanking epidemic “much worse than any prop bet scandal”.
The Blueprint: 7 Radical Concepts on the Table
According to reports from ESPN’s Shams Charania, the NBA’s competition committee and league executives have brainstormed several radical concepts to kill the incentive to lose.
Here are the primary ideas currently on the table:
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Targeted Pick Protections: First-round draft picks would only be allowed to be top-four or top-14-plus protected. This change would eliminate problematic mid-lottery protections that often incentivize teams to lose to keep their pick.
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The Trade Deadline Freeze: Lottery odds would permanently freeze at the trade deadline or a specific later date. This means late-season losses wouldn’t improve a team’s draft stock at all.
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No Back-to-Back Top-4 Picks: The league would no longer allow a team to pick in the top four in consecutive years, and/or after consecutive bottom-three finishes.
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The “Conference Finals” Ban: Teams would be barred from picking in the top four the year immediately after making the Conference Finals.
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Two-Year Record Allocation: Lottery odds would be calculated based on a team’s combined two-year record rather than just a single terrible season.
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Play-In Teams Get a Shot: The draft lottery would be extended to include all play-in tournament teams, giving slightly better teams a reason to keep competing.
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Completely Flattened Odds: The league would flatten the odds for all lottery teams. This approach means the worst teams in the league would have the exact same chance at the #1 pick as other lottery teams, heavily disincentivizing a race for last place.
What’s Next?
Mike Krzyzewski, who currently serves as a special adviser to basketball operations for the NBA, reportedly urged general managers to prepare for a prompt and tasteful “attack” on the tanking problem in the coming months. While nothing is officially finalized yet, it is incredibly clear that the days of “Trusting the Process” by throwing 60 games a year are numbered.
