The NBA turned heads this week when a new draft lottery system proposal was revealed, part of an anti-tanking initiative by the league.
Under the new system, the lottery would expand to 16 teams with flattened odds. Most notably, the three teams with the worst record would be penalized with fewer lottery balls in the drawing for the top pick.
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Those three teams only would receive two lottery balls and teams 4-10 would receive three. The Nos. 9 and 10 play-in seeds in each conference would receive two lottery balls each, while the losers of the 7-8 play-in games would receive one lottery ball each.
The new proposal still faces a final owners vote in May, but ESPN reports that it has support from the majority of NBA teams.
Regardless, the news caused outrage online and left many wondering why the league would punish the bottom three teams so harshly, especially if they aren’t taking and are simply bad teams.
To be fair, if the new proposal did actually eliminate tanking, than the bottom three teams would truly be the worst teams in the league. In that case, the proposal would still punish those teams with worse lottery odds.
This new system produces as many questions as it does answers, but it could reportedly be implemented as early as the 2027 NBA Draft.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
