NBA Teams Looking Into New Ways To Prevent Teams From Tanking

[Moranis]

These are some of the dumbest things I've seen. 

If you want to stop tanking, just fine the owners and do it in very large sums of money.  Tanking will stop immediately.

[KungPoweChicken]

Impose a tax penalty on teams with consecutive bottom finishes in the standings. There are a lot of creative ways this could be structured.

[Who]

Impose a tax penalty on teams with consecutive bottom finishes in the standings. There are a lot of creative ways this could be structured.

Do something like they do in English soccer where money distribution in the league is (1) 50% of it equally shared (2) 50% based on league standings. On merit.

That will force teams to try to win.

[bdm860]

Teams also would not be able to protect picks in the 12 to 15 slots going forward.

What does this mean? Because the way I read it, it's not making any sense.

You can protect picks 1-11, but not 1-12/13/14/15?

If you're drafting in spots 12-15, any protection on traded picks is voided?

If you finished in spots 12-15, you can't make any trades where you protect picks?

I feel like none of these makes sense, so someone help me understand please.


On the proposal as a whole, I think relegation is the most interesting, I really want to see how that plays out, I think that alone could work wonders.

[Kernewek]

Teams also would not be able to protect picks in the 12 to 15 slots going forward.

What does this mean? Because the way I read it, it's not making any sense.

You can protect picks 1-11, but not 1-12/13/14/15?

If you're drafting in spots 12-15, any protection on traded picks is voided?

If you finished in spots 12-15, you can't make any trades where you protect picks?

I feel like none of these makes sense, so someone help me understand please.


On the proposal as a whole, I think relegation is the most interesting, I really want to see how that plays out, I think that alone could work wonders.

'Going forward' presumes any protections on trades already made (e.g. someone's protected pick in 2027 or whatever) will be grandfathered into the rule, I think.

I also suspect the change to 12-15 protections is there because of the expanded lottery odds detailed before:

16 teams in the lottery.
*3 lottery balls for Teams that do not qualify for the playoffs or play-in tournament but finish 4-10
*2 lottery balls for teams with a bottom-three record (worst possible pick is 12th)
*2 lottery balls for 9th and 10th play-in seeds
*1 lottery ball for the 7th/8th play-in losers

Full disclosure, I'm a little hungover so I might be missing something, but they seem to be trying to disincentivise protecting bottom-of-the-pile picks (which would impact, usually, the better teams that are now eligible for the draft lottery).