In today’s NBA, teams tend to fall into two distinct camps by the time spring rolls around: those pushing for a championship and those quietly (or not-so-quietly) eyeing the lottery. While the former group fuels the league’s best storylines, the latter continues to stir controversy - particularly when losing appears more strategic than accidental.
The NBA has tried to curb tanking before. Smoothing out the lottery odds was supposed to make losing less rewarding.
But here we are again. According to a new report from Shams Charania, the league is actively exploring fresh ways to discourage teams from throwing in the towel late in the season.
Among the measures reportedly on the table:
- Limiting pick protections to either top-four or 14-and-up. This would eliminate those murky “top-10 protected” deals that often incentivize teams to land in a very specific part of the lottery.
- Barring teams from drafting in the top four in back-to-back years. That would prevent franchises from stacking elite picks season after season while remaining non-competitive.
- Locking in lottery positions after March 1. In other words, no late-season freefall would improve a team’s draft odds after that date.
These are significant proposals - and they reflect just how seriously the league is taking the issue.
Tanking isn’t some abstract problem. It’s played out in real time, with real consequences.
Take the Portland Trail Blazers last season. They were 32-40 heading into late March - not great, but still within shouting distance of the Play-In.
Then came a nosedive: nine losses in their final ten games, landing them with the league’s fifth-worst record. That kind of collapse doesn’t happen by accident.
The report also references criminal charges involving former Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups and Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier. According to the government, an unnamed co-conspirator - described in a way that matches Billups - allegedly tipped off a bettor that several Blazers players would sit out a March 2023 game as the team shifted into tank mode. That kind of allegation, if proven, goes beyond tanking and into dangerous territory for the league’s integrity.
And Portland isn’t alone. The Dallas Mavericks raised eyebrows last season when they held out key players in a must-win game with Play-In implications. The Utah Jazz have also been cited for similar late-season lineups that seemed more focused on ping-pong balls than playoff berths.
To be clear, nothing has been finalized yet. These are proposals, not policies.
But the league’s willingness to consider structural changes - particularly ones that would directly impact how teams manage their rosters and assets - signals a shift in tone. The NBA isn’t just asking teams to compete.
It may soon be requiring it.
As the season unfolds and the standings take shape, expect these conversations to intensify. The league wants a product that’s competitive from October through April - not just in June. And if that means rewriting the rules around the draft, so be it.