As NBA Looks to Add New Anti-Tanking Rules, the Chicago Bulls Could Benefit

Where the Chicago Bulls on the right side of history all along?

In the wake of a gambling scandal that shocked the NBA world, the league is reportedly considering significant changes to its draft lottery system.

ESPN's Shams Charania shared on Tuesday that the NBA has spoken with owners and executives about the best ways to deter tanking. While the current draft lottery structure does not always reward the league's worst team, it's still designed to heavily favor those who are aggressively on the wrong side of the win-loss column.

The three worst teams in the NBA are all handed a 14.0 percent chance at the No. 1 overall pick. The odds at the top pick incrementally drop by 1.5 percent until reaching the NBA's 14th-worst team – aka the last team to miss the playoffs. Any franchise that does make the postseason is not part of the lottery.

Again, this system may not consistently reward the worst of the worst, but it does still offer a clear incentive for swimming at the bottom of the barrel. The NBA appears more eager than ever before to remove that incentive and encourage consistent competitiveness. So how do they plan to do just that?

Charania shared three ideas that have been discussed thus far:

(1) Limiting pick protections to Top 4 or 14 and higher
(2) No longer allowing a team to pick Top 4 twice in a row
(3) Locking lottery positioning after March 1 – over a month before the end of the regular season

While it's unclear if the league will follow through with any of these policies, it's at least telling that they already compiled a short list of possible solutions. Commissioner Adam Silver has also never hesitated in the past to make changes and toy with the structure of the league, which makes it even more conceivable that some kind of change is coming.

Could NBA's Change Benefit the Chicago Bulls?

Chicago Bulls draft Noa Essengue — Jun 25, 2025; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Noa Essengue stands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the 12th pick by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

When we consider the current state of the Chicago Bulls franchise, this news could prove rather significant. For years, fans have called for the front office to press the self-destruct button and join the tank race. They have repeatedly refused to do that, however, settling for late-lottery selections in multiple drafts.

To be sure, the fact that the NBA is looking to change things does not necessarily mean the Bulls were on the right side of history all this time. Prioritizing lottery odds has been a permissible practice, and the Bulls' refusal to engage in this practice has only put them further behind the 8-ball in recent years. The "competitive integrity" thing is a very hard sell when other teams are drafting guys like Anthony Edwards and Cade Cunningham.

With that said, considering they do approach things this way, there is no question that any steps taken to prevent tanking could indirectly help the Bulls. It could mean that fewer teams start to pass them by securing big-name talent on draft night. Whether it be the Pistons, Magic, Raptors, or 76ers, there are a handful of current teams in the East that sit ahead of Chicago in the standings, in part, because of their recent tanking ways.

At the end of the day, everything is still going to come down to how well this front office drafts, develops, and attracts talent. A couple of changes to the lottery odds will not save them from themselves. However, for an organization that has constantly refused to embrace the tanking lifestyle, this could prove to be a small win as they look to return to relevancy.