NBA Draft: What Teams Will Suffer Most from New Lottery Format

The NBA Draft Lottery has officially been changed, bringing on a shifting ruleset to the league designed to curb tanking.

The changes, implemented months ago following several teams repositioning themsevles for the 2026 NBA Draft, will fundamentally change how the regular season is played out, and how teams come across top draft picks.

Below, we'll look at three teams that could be hurt by the new format:

Brooklyn Nets (Houston Rockets)

The Nets saw back-to-back years with rotten luck at the draft lottery, but did manage to snag talents in Egor Demin and Mikel Brown Jr., and are now looking to push into the future with that backcourt as the headliner. Still, playing those two and letting them work through early-career growing pains won’t bring on a heavy dose of wins.

Brooklyn has players such as Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randle, though it’s still not a guarantee that they’ll be able to amass wins. If they don’t, they’ll be setting up the Rockets perfectly to nab a top pick.

Unfortunately for Houston, if the Nets finish inside the relegation zone, their odds will be worsened.

Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies aren’t one to opt for a hard reset, but eventually have pressed that exact button in adding plenty of new talent in the last few years. They’ve nabbed players like Zach Edey, Cedric Coward and most recently No. 3 pick Cameron Boozer, and are now looking to form a competitive young group.

Typically, a team would roll out their young core and let the chips fall where they may. Even with a bad record, it would be valuable experience. Now, Memphis will instead look to avoid the relegation zone, potentially have to sacrifice some internal development for slightly better draft odds.

The Grizzlies are always a competitive franchise, so it ultimately may not be a major issue. Though certain levers may not be pulled because of the new format.

Sacramento Kings

The team far-and-away most likely to be hurt by the new lottery format is the Sacramento Kings, who have some of the least talent in the NBA, and now need to built through the draft.

The Kings have done well to add just that in the last few draft cycles, adding players like Darius Acuff Jr., Maxime Raynaud, Alex Karaban and more. Though those players won’t be enough to carry them to wins in the Western Conference.

Sacramento needs to continue adding top-end talent through the draft, but is now certain to be penalized if they finish with a bottom-three record. Which is likely, given the strength of the Western Conference and current state of the roster.

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