NBA owners set to vote on new anti-tanking lottery proposals this week. How will that impact trades?

Adam Silver’s anti-tanking quest — a dramatic reaction to this year’s unique situation with an especially deep draft — comes to a head this week when the NBA owners are scheduled to meet and vote on that latest lottery reform proposal.

That proposal is a modified version of the “3-2-1” proposal put forward last month (named after the number of ping-pong balls a team could get). A number of league front offices have serious concerns about what this will mean in terms of trading draft picks and for the value of picks already traded. This new proposal dramatically flattens the odds of the lottery and expands it to 16 teams — that changes the value of picks that could be traded or picks that already have been. From Mike Vorkunov at The Athletic.

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Team executives have predicted that first-round picks would be harder to trade under the new rules, as the 3-2-1 format gives teams higher up in the standings a better chance to land not just a high draft choice but the No. 1 pick…

Earlier this month at the draft combine, some team executives bemoaned that these changes are coming after those picks have been dealt. A majority of the league would be impacted by these after-the-fact changes. In 2027, 14 teams have already traded away control of their first-round picks. In 2028 and 2029 each, only 12 teams control their own first-round picks without any encumbrances, swaps or as part of elaborate waterfall conveyances.

The NBA offseason loves the attention that offseason blockbuster trades generate, but making first-round picks less likely to be traded means it’s harder to put together a deal for someone like Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The value of all those already traded picks and swaps changes under this new “3-2-1” system, which is the latest, further flattening the odds that seems to be the league’s only solution to tanking.

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As a reminder, here is how the new system would break down:

• Three teams with the worst records: They fall into a poorly-named “relegation zone” and be penalized for their poor performance by only getting two lottery balls, giving them a a 5.4% chance at the No. 1 pick,…


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Publish date : 2026-05-25 18:49:00

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