The NBA's new '3-2-1 lottery' proposal penalizes tanking to the bottom. It's about time
The NBA has proposed a new '3-2-1 lottery' system aimed at discouraging teams from intentionally losing to secure higher draft picks. Under the plan, the three worst teams would face reduced odds and enter a 'draft relegation' zone, with all 16 non-playoff teams participating in the lottery. The proposal also includes restrictions on consecutive top picks and grants the league power to penalize teams caught tanking. While the system aims to promote competitive integrity, concerns remain about incentive cliffs between tiers.
- ▪The '3-2-1 lottery' proposal reduces draft odds for the three worst teams to 5.4% for the No. 1 pick, lower than the 8.1% odds given to the next seven non-playoff teams.
- ▪Teams in the 'draft relegation' zone would be guaranteed no better than the 12th overall pick and lose one lottery ball as a penalty for finishing with the worst records.
- ▪All 16 non-playoff teams would have lottery picks determined via drawing, including play-in game losers who receive minimal odds.
- ▪No team could win the No. 1 overall pick in consecutive years or accumulate three top-five picks in a row under the new rules.
- ▪The NBA would gain expanded authority to adjust or strip lottery odds from teams found to be intentionally losing games.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/the-nbas-new-3-2-1-lottery-proposal-penalizes-tanking-to-the-bottom-its-about-time-024335366.html","headline":"The NBA's new '3-2-1 lottery' proposal penalizes tanking to the bottom. It's about time","datePublished":"2026-04-29T02:43:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-29T02:43:35.000Z","keywords":["The NBA","lottery balls","lottery system","proposal","Stephon Castle","Victor Wembanyama","Ausar Thompson","Cade Cunningham","Dylan Harper","Jaden Ivey","Jazz"],"description":"The draft relegation zone is about to make the bottom of the standings an uncomfortable place to live.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Yahoo…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Yahoo Sports.
Discussion
0 commentsMore from Yahoo Sports
