Adam Silver has finally decided to do something about the tanking epidemic he spent a decade ignoring.
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The NBA is reportedly moving toward a “3-2-1 Lottery” system that is about as convoluted as a government stimulus package.
Silver is effectively trying to legislate effort because his previous incentives rewarded teams for being dumpster fires.
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The proposal expands the lottery from 14 teams to 16 and creates a de facto relegation zone for the three worst teams in the league.
In a classic Silver move, those bottom dwellers are actually penalized. They receive fewer lottery balls than teams that are merely below average.
The logic here is peak modern NBA, and the league wants to make being slightly below average more rewarding than being truly terrible.
Teams in the middle of the lottery standings would receive the most favorable odds, while the worst teams get reduced chances at the top pick.
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So the message is simple. Stop trying to be awful and aim for mediocrity instead.
Silver is essentially turning the draft lottery into a system where the biggest losers do not get the biggest rewards.
The worst teams would also have a floor, meaning they could not fall past roughly the 12th pick. Even that safety net shows how carefully the league is trying to balance discouraging tanking without completely burying bad teams.
The proposal also includes a ban on winning the top pick in consecutive years and prevents any team from landing a top-five pick three years in a row. It only took years of watching “the process” and other blatant tanking jobs to realize that rewarding incompetence might be bad for the brand.
There is even a rule targeting pick protections.
Teams would no longer be allowed to protect picks in the 12 to 15 range. This is designed to stop late-season tanking aimed at keeping a mid-round selection.
Silver spent years acting like tanking was a minor nuisance. He is the guy who let the termites eat the house for a decade.
The “3-2-1” plan is a clear attempt to fix a competitive problem that developed on his watch.
It might reduce outright tanking, but it also risks turning the lottery into something fans need a chart to understand.
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Either way, the NBA is finally admitting the system it built was broken.
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