NBA Draft: NBA Commissioner Speaks on Potential 'Tanking' Concerns

The 2026 NBA Draft class is shaping up to be one of the best in some time, offering talents like Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, and depth through the lottery and first round.

With that being the case, teams have been positioning themselves to land the best possible odds. Unfortunately, the only way to do that is to lose game, something that’s in direct opposition to what the league as a whole wants in terms of competition.

Some teams, such as the Jazz and Pacers, have been especially blatant in repositioning themselves for the draft, garnering hefty fines in the process. Even more than just those, though, there seems to be a record number of teams opting for the draft instead of the postseason.

It’s been a major talking point around the NBA of late, prompting NBA commissioner Adam Silver to touch on team’s recent strategies.

“Yes, it’s been part of this league for a long time,” Silver said of the colloquial tanking. “I think what we’re seeing is modern analytics, where it’s so clear that the incentives are misaligned. To further answer your question, are we seeing behavior that is worse this year than we’ve seen in recent memory? Yes, is my view, which is what led to those fines.”

“There is a bit of a know it when you see it quality to this. We spend a lot of time at the league office going back and forth with teams on injury reports, on coach’s decisions.

While the league obviously prides itself on its competitiveness, there’s also merit to the strategy. Some of the fastest-rising teams in the league, including the defending-champion Thunder, Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and more all say years near the top of the NBA Draft.

“My caveat is, and this is where team’s are in a difficult place,” Silver said. “That the worst place to be, for example, is to be a middle of the road team. Either be great, or be bad, because then that will help you with the draft.”

Silver also has a fundamental understanding of what’s happening. Even going so far as to call out that the depth of the 2026 class is fueling the recent surge.

“Looking at whether there’s a better system here to try to align incentives. The point about this year, when you look at totality of the circumstances. Of course I’m paying attention to what’s happening, and the perception is you have a very deep draft class this year, a perception — who knows whether this will be the reality — that the next two year’s draft classes aren’t as good. There’s no doubt that’s effecting the behavior of our teams.

Team likely won't shy away from continuing to push for top draft odds this season. The precedent has already been set for how to get there, and fine aren't likely to deter them from trying to land superstars.

The hope now is that there isn't a major course-correction amid an outlier year that harms the process in the future.