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).

[Donoghus]

Here's a visual for those interested.

[Moranis]

If this was in place in the past, the Spurs would not have Dylan Harper.  The Pistons would not have Ausar Thompson (they actually went 4 in row - Cade, Ivey, Thompson, Holland). Houston also went 4 in a row with Green, Smith, Thompson, Sheppard.  The Cavs would not have Mobley (Garland, Okoro, then Mobley).  The Cavs also had 4 in a row with Irving/Thompson,  then Waiters, Bennett, Wiggins. The Thunder of years past wouldn't have had Harden as he was after Durant then Westbrook.  The Lakers wouldn't have been in position for Lonzo so who knows if thst team takes him or Tatum.  And the year prior, the Sixers couldn't have taken Simmons after Embiid and Okafor (they also had a top 5 the next year when they traded 3 with Boston so they could take Fultz at 1).  The Suns wouldn't have had Ayton after wasting picks on Bender and Jackson the 2 prior years.  Orlando wouldn't have gotten Hezonja in 2015.   

I believe that is all of the times a team has had top 5 picks in 3 consecutive years in the last 15 years or so. And the only teams that actually got 3 good players is the Sonics/Thunder with Durant, Westbrook, Harden and Spurs with Wemby, Castle, Harper.  It just doesnt happen often and typically when it does, it is because at least 1 of the first 2 doesnt work out if not both of them. 

[CFAN38]

My views on tanking have changed over the last year in large part to a POD I listened to with Same Vecenie. His take that I agree with is your never going to eliminate tanking and still have a draft so instead the goal should be to minimize it.

My draft reform idea...


1. Worst record get the 1st pick

2. teams 2-14 have flat lottery odds

These two simple changes should in theory put the best player from the draft on the worst team each year. The point of the draft is to give bad teams the best chance to get better with young talent. In terms of tanking its relatively easy to tank into the bottom 4-5 teams each season but tanking to the worst record involves being a truly terrible team. In a Wemby/Flagg type year I would be shocked to see more than 3 teams putting together a full season long tank to #1. On the other side its a dangerous move to tank and end up with the 2nd worst record when you have the same odds to get #2 as you do #14. Tanking all season for the 11th pick is a great way for a GM to get fired.

3. The third piece of this that I debate about is giving the team that wins the play-in spots automatically the 10th and 11th picks, dont love adding rules to what should be a simple process but this does reward the team that fights for the playoff win with a better pick than they currently would have.


Other draft reform I think should be considered.

1. Players are draft auto eligible if 22yrs or older on draft night.     If the NCAA passes the 5 in 5 rule  "  Athletes get 5 full seasons of competition within 5 years, starting the year after they turn 19 or graduate high school" we will have a number of 23 year old seniors. I give NBA teams the option to draft 22yr olds who are still playing in college. If drafted in the 1st round they start their contract after they run out of college eligibility at the sarlary slot they where drafted.

2. All players 23 and older are not eligible for the draft and become UDFA's with their first year salary capped at a number below the 30th pick in the draft. The second round has become a farce in the sense that players/agents are negotiating there way into lower picks with better fits and better contacts. Just let these players become FAs

3. The 2nd round becomes a 2-way contract aka G-league draft. The 2nd round would be all players who declare and are under the age of 23. Every player drafting in the 2nd automatically signs a 2-way with their team at a 20% higher value than a typical 2-way contract. 

[Kernewek]

Other draft reform I think should be considered.

1. Players are draft auto eligible if 22yrs or older on draft night.     If the NCAA passes the 5 in 5 rule  "  Athletes get 5 full seasons of competition within 5 years, starting the year after they turn 19 or graduate high school" we will have a number of 23 year old seniors. I give NBA teams the option to draft 22yr olds who are still playing in college. If drafted in the 1st round they start their contract after they run out of college eligibility at the sarlary slot they where drafted.

Why does the player's union agree to this, and why do the incoming draft of players agree to this?

[CFAN38]

Other draft reform I think should be considered.

1. Players are draft auto eligible if 22yrs or older on draft night.     If the NCAA passes the 5 in 5 rule  "  Athletes get 5 full seasons of competition within 5 years, starting the year after they turn 19 or graduate high school" we will have a number of 23 year old seniors. I give NBA teams the option to draft 22yr olds who are still playing in college. If drafted in the 1st round they start their contract after they run out of college eligibility at the salary slot they where drafted.

Why does the player's union agree to this, and why do the incoming draft of players agree to this?

The older players coming into the league either come in with 1st round guaranteed contracts from being drafted in the 1st round or the freedom to pick their own team without any back door negotiating that comes from being a 2nd round pick.

Ex In this situation Bennett Stirtz could have been drafted last year in the late 1st. Would have then gone to Iowa earned his NIL contract and now would be working out with his NBA team. Or to look at this draft Henri Veesaar is projected as a late 1st / early 2nd, as the 30th pick he will make 2.8Mill in the NBA next season. Under my proposed change he would be auto drafted and still potentially go in the late first while also having the freedom to stay in school for what is likely a 3-4mill NIL deal.