Tanking is dead in the NBA.
On Thursday, every team in the league, except the Memphis Grizzlies, agreed to the new NBA Draft rules through at least 2029, which discourage teams from purposefully losing games to improve their chances in the draft lottery.
Under the new rules, the three worst teams in the NBA next season will have worse odds to get the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NBA Draft.
That trio will get two lottery balls for the first pick. The seven teams behind them who fail to make the play-in tournament will receive three balls. The four teams that finish as the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds will get two balls. And the two teams that lose the final play-in tournament game will receive a single lottery ball for the No. 1 overall selection.
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The new ruling is now directly punishing teams who finish at the bottom of the standings, the closest we’ve seen to something resembling European football with relegation.
If you’re a team like the Memphis Grizzlies, the only team to stand against the proposal, and are the second-worst team in the NBA next season, there’s a strong possibility that you’ll be standing behind better teams as they get a more impactful prospect.
It’s a double-edged sword. On one hand, it will make games far more competitive down the stretch for the worst teams in basketball, as they’ll be fighting to stay out of that lottery relegation zone. A Grizzlies vs. Utah Jazz game in March that no one cared about this year might be a must-watch next season, as the winner could secure a brighter future.
Yet there’s also the strong possibility that a team might just be outright terrible and continue to be, without any optimism to look forward to, even with a good draft pick. There will always be terrible teams in sports, but the hope that a draft can bring is what keeps fans coming back for more, even if they’ve been beaten down for decades.
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