The NBA's anti-tanking plans are coming into focus.
The league has informed its 30 general managers it plans to make anti-tanking rule changes for next season,according to ESPN's Shams Charania. Possible changes reportedly include:
First-round pick protections being limited to top four or top 14;
Freezing lottery odds after the NBA trade deadline or later;
Preventing teams from picking in the top four in consecutive years and/or after consecutive bottom-three finishes;
Forbidding teams from picking in the top four after making the conference finals;
Basing lottery odds on two-year records;
Expanding the lottery to play-in teams;
And flattening the lottery odds for all teams involved.
To be clear, the NBA wouldn't be pursuing all of those options. But even one or two of them could mark a sea change for how the league's less competitive teams do business.
The idea of locking teams out of the top four if they made it the previous year has already been implemented in Major League Baseball's draft lottery, and the popularity of the measure depends on which fan base you're talking to.
Former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, currently working as a senior adviser to basketball operations for the NBA, was reportedly present at the league's GM meeting Thursday and called for an "attack" on the problem that the executives should be prepared for in the coming year.
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NBA teams are tanking hard this season, for a reason
These changes are being discussed amid one of the most tank-heavy seasons in living memory, in whichthe Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers have already been fined six-figure sums for "overt" tanking behavior, as described by NBA commissioner Adam Silver.
Tanking has been an accepted cost of doing business in the NBA for decades, buta litany of teams have been racing to the bottom this year, and a spate of injuries have left them unlikely to be any better for the rest of the regular season.
The Sacramento Kings, current owners of the worst record in the league,have now lost Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine to season-ending surgeries. The Washington Wizards, with the second-worst record,are still without trade acquisitions Anthony Davis and Trae Young, and no one is expecting them to be rushed back. The Dallas Mavericks won't be seeing Kyrie Irving or Dereck Lively again this season, and Cooper Flagg also remains out. Ja Morant is still out for the Memphis Grizzlies, who sent away Jaren Jackson Jr. at the trade deadline.
The reason why teams would be so committed this year is one of the most loaded draft classes in NBA history, with a remarkable collection of freshman currently making an impact at the college level. Darryn Peterson of Kansas, AJ Dybantsa of BYU and Cameron Boozer of Duke all stand out, but this is also a class where a franchise-changing talent could easily be found anywhere in the top 10, and maybe beyond.
The situation has proven controversial, all the way up to the NBA's ownership.Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia was ranting about "losing behavior done by losers" hours before the possible anti-tanking measure were reported, whileMavericks minority owner Mark Cuban was telling his peers to embrace the tank earlier this week.