NBA Officially Passes new Draft Lottery Changes, Anti-Tanking Rules

Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the NBA’s Board of Governors has officially moved forward with new anti-tanking and lottery reform changes.

Breaking: The NBA's Board of Governors has passed new anti-tanking rules that include expanding the draft lottery from 14 to 16 teams, a relegation zone where the bottom 3 teams get penalized with lessened chances for the No. 1 pick, and flattened odds, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/e1oq10p2yV
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 28, 2026

It’s been a long time coming for the changes, as NBA commissioner Adam Silver has reportedly been bent on curbing tanking, the colloquial term for positioning to lose on purpose. Several ideas have been thrown around for the last several months, though they’ve landed on the “3-2-1 lottery.”

Per Charania, the draft lottery has now officially been expanded from 14 to 16 teams, and the league now officially has a “relegation zone,” where the bottom three teams in the league will receive even worse odds for losing. It will be the first time in league history there is a punishment for ranking lower in the standings.

All of the details have not yet been revealed, though it’s safe to assume the changes will follow the general guidelines previously laid out by Charania’s reporting.

Under the “3-2-1 lottery,” teams will have a chance at earning one, two or three lottery balls, which will each be worth a 2.7% chance at the top pick. Teams in the reverse four to 10 range will have the best odds, an 8.1% chance at No. 1, the most the odds have been flattened in NBA history. The current system has a tiered descending order that saw the worst teams get better odds.

The relegation zone will have just a 5.4% chance at landing No. 1, tied with the losers of the NBA Play-In. The losers of the 7-8 Play-In game will also receive a ball, marking the first lottery era with more than 14 teams.

It is a seismic shift for the NBA, who is looking to curb tanking enough to implement so many changes.

Per Charania, the Board of Governors passed the changes 29-1, with the Memphis Grizzlies as the lone vote against the new anti-tanking reform.

The current lottery system ran from 2019 to 2026, and largely did its job in terms of attempting to flatten the odds and reduce tanking. It saw teams like the Pelicans, Hawks, Mavericks and more jump into the top spots time and again to nab No. 1 picks, though that didn't stop teams in the 2025-26 season from positioning themselves for the top picks.

The new system will take effect in the 2026-27 season, and will run through 2029 with a sunset clause that could see it scrapped.

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