NBA Board of Governors to Vote on Anti-Tanking Reform May 28

The tanking era might finally be coming to an end.

The NBA's Board of Governors will vote on May 28 on comprehensive anti-tanking reform, and the leading proposal would fundamentally reshape the draft lottery. Instead of the current system where the worst teams get the best odds, the new plan would flatten lottery odds across 18 non-playoff teams — giving the bottom 10 an equal 8% chance of moving up in the draft order.

This has been building for years. The league has watched teams brazenly tank for generational prospects (the race to the bottom for Cooper Flagg and Victor Wembanyama being the most obvious examples), and the competitive integrity of the regular season has suffered. Three proposals are on the table, but the flat-odds model has the most support. If it passes, the incentive to lose disappears overnight. No more shutting down healthy players. No more mysterious "load management" in March. The NBA is finally ready to fix its biggest problem.