The NBA is once again stepping into murky waters - this time, to take a hard look at tanking. Just months removed from dealing with a gambling scandal, the league is now zeroing in on teams that appear to be gaming the system for draft position. And according to reporting from Shams Charania, the league office is getting serious about it.
At the heart of the conversation are several proposed rule changes aimed at curbing what the league sees as strategic losing - especially when teams sit healthy players late in the season to improve their lottery odds or protect valuable draft picks.
Here’s what’s on the table:
- Capping pick protections: Teams could soon be limited to protecting picks only in the top four or outside the lottery (14th and beyond), eliminating the gray area of mid-lottery protections that often create incentives to lose just enough to keep a pick.
- No back-to-back top-four picks: Under this idea, a team wouldn’t be allowed to draft in the top four in consecutive years - a direct shot at repeat offenders.
- Freezing lottery standings after March 1: This would effectively lock in lottery odds based on standings as of early March, discouraging teams from tanking down the stretch once playoff hopes fade.
The message is clear: if you’re out of the playoff hunt, that doesn’t mean you get to shut it down. The league wants competitive basketball through April - not glorified scrimmages with half the roster in street clothes.
Importantly, the NBA is trying to walk a fine line. These proposals aren’t meant to punish teams that are legitimately rebuilding or dealing with injuries.
They’re targeting those who, in the league’s view, are manipulating the standings to land or protect a pick. And to drive the point home, the league reportedly presented some recent examples to the Board of Governors - and they’re not exactly subtle.
Let’s start with the Dallas Mavericks. In 2023, they sat both Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić down the stretch, leading to a pair of losses.
The league hit them with a fine, but the Mavs still held onto their pick. That’s the kind of outcome the NBA would like to prevent moving forward.
Then there’s the Philadelphia 76ers. Last season, they dropped 29 of their final 37 games - a brutal skid that landed them the fifth-worst record and a spot in the lottery.
Not only did they keep their pick, they jumped up to No. 3 overall and selected VJ Edgecombe. On paper, it looks like a textbook tank job.
But peel back the layers, and it’s not quite that simple.
The Sixers were absolutely hammered by injuries. Joel Embiid was rarely available.
Paul George played about half the season before being shut down due to lingering issues. The only potential question mark is Tyrese Maxey, who was dealing with a sprained finger and back problems late in the year.
If the league is implying that Maxey’s absence was strategic, that’s a bold stance - maybe even a bit of a stretch.
Maxey first sprained the finger in February, re-aggravated it in March, and clearly wasn’t himself. Over his final seven games, he shot just 32.4% from the field and 20.9% from deep - numbers that speak for themselves.
Reports at the time indicated he was trying to get back on the floor, but a setback in early April ended that push. That’s a tough injury to fake, especially for a player who thrives on touch and rhythm.
And then there’s the Utah Jazz, who might be the most blatant example. Last March, they were fined $100,000 for holding Lauri Markkanen out of multiple games.
Why? Because this season, they owe a top-8 protected pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder - and holding onto that pick could hinge on a few extra losses.
According to Charania, a lot of people around the league are watching that situation closely.
All of this comes against the backdrop of the NBA’s last major lottery reform, which came in 2019. That’s when the league flattened the odds for the bottom three teams, giving each a 14% shot at the No. 1 pick and a 52.1% chance of landing in the top four. Since then, we’ve seen teams like the Atlanta Hawks (10th in 2024) and the Dallas Mavericks (11th in 2025) leap up the board - proof that even mid-tier lottery teams can strike gold.
Whether these new proposals will actually make it into the rulebook is still up in the air. But if they do, there could be ripple effects - particularly for teams like the Sixers, who hold future assets from the Clippers and others. It’s likely the rules would apply only to a team’s own picks and not to ones acquired via trade, but that’s still to be determined.
One thing’s for sure: this isn’t the last we’ll hear about it. The league knows the optics of tanking are bad - for fans, for players, and for the product. And with the draft lottery already a source of controversy, any tweaks to the system are bound to stir the pot.
This is a story to keep an eye on as the league navigates the fine line between rebuilding and outright manipulation. The NBA wants its teams to compete - not coast - and these proposals are the latest attempt to make sure the games in March and April still matter.