The NBA’s Board of Governors voted 29-1 on Thursday to overhaul the league’s draft lottery, adopting a new format aimed squarely at nba anti tanking efforts. The change expands the drawing from 14 teams to 16 and brings the 8-seed into the lottery picture.
The new system, called the 3-2-1 Lottery, gives the final three teams two ping pong balls each, while teams with the fourth through 10th worst records receive three ping pong balls each. The Nos. 9 and 10 play-in seeds in each conference get two lottery balls each, and the losers of the 7-8 play-in games receive one lottery ball each.
The bottom three teams will have lesser chances at the No. 1 overall pick under flattened odds, and all 16 teams will be in the drawing. The three worst teams will now have a floor of picking 12th in the draft, while the league also said teams will no longer be able to land the No. 1 pick in back-to-back years or hold top-five picks in three straight drafts.
Back in March, Adam Silver made it clear that fixing the league's tanking issue was a top priority. Over the past couple of months, the NBA's new 3-2-1 Lottery was put together, and Thursday’s vote marked the formal step from idea to policy.
The league has treated tanking as a recurring problem because some teams have tried to finish with the worst records to improve their draft odds. This overhaul changes both lottery eligibility and odds, while also adding limits on repeated high picks and certain pick protections. Teams will no longer be able to protect picks in the 12 to 15 slots going forward, a rule that could matter in future trades as much as in the draft itself.
The Utah Jazz are the only team affected by the top-five-pick restriction in 2027, and they have already traded that pick to the Memphis Grizzlies. If Utah is in the lottery next year, its pick can finish no higher than sixth. The Grizzlies were the lone team to vote against the measure.
Next year, the lottery is likely to be done live, adding a more visible stage to a process that has often been criticized for opacity. The format is also temporary: it is set to expire after the 2029 season, leaving the league free to extend it, replace it with something new or move toward another idea such as a draft credits system.
For now, the NBA has chosen the most direct answer it has yet offered to a problem that has followed the league for years. It has changed the odds, widened the field and made it harder for losing to look like a strategy.
