99LedBalloons | Timberwolves

218 | 4 hours ago

“relegation zone”

Is it relegation? Well no. Is it similar to relegation in any way? Not really. But it has the flavor of relegation!

Enchanted-2-meet-you | GSW

70 | 4 hours ago

Throwing a buzzword for no reason

TheQuietSleeper023 | Warriors

24 | 4 hours ago

Adam Silver is a fan of European soccer, the NBA Cup is also part of that.

ragtime_sam | Bullets

3 | an hour ago

The premier leagification of the NBA

Schowse

7 | an hour ago

That would actually be incredible. Not sure if you’ve ever followed European football but the way they structure leagues and cups is immensely more exciting than the US model.

TheKnightThatSaysRee | Nuggets

2 | an hour ago

Relegation would be terrible for the nba with the way salary cap rules work and the limited amount of teams. Europe has thousands of clubs making the system viable in the first place.

MasterWorlock2020 | Kings

1 | 27 minutes ago

Obviously it would be immensely complicated to implement but it would be great for the NBA and fan experience.

But it would be terrible for the billionaire owners. They would never implement it because they only would lose money.

In some fantasy world that I would love to live in the NBA could adopt a system that would totally work. I think if there was a promotion relegation model, interest in the minor league teams would soar because of the immense stakes that there are to play for.

I don’t know if you follow soccer but the drop off in finances between the Premier League and Championship teams is insane. There is a way to make the system work but unfortunately all parties with power (Owners, Players) have zero incentive.

My man point in this comment is that in almost all things in America, it’s the billionaire’s fault we can’t have fun/nice things.

No-Owl-6246 | Lakers

1 | 23 minutes ago

Until you lookup the number of teams that have won those leagues over the last 20 years and realize it’s not that exciting and the leagues have to create stakes at the bottom because there is absolutely zero parity at the top and without stakes at the bottom only 1 (Bundesliga) to 4 teams depending on the league would have anything to actually care about.

Safe_Ad_6403

21 | 4 hours ago

I like that it uses the R word. I wish it was actual Relegation but it would make some billionaires sad so we aren’t allowed to have it.

chmcgrath1988 | Celtics

9 | 3 hours ago

Have outright relegation, Adam Silver, you coward. We need the possibility of the Boston Celtics playing the Maine Celtics in a regulation NBA game.

Tyranicross | SAS

2 | an hour ago

Relegation does not work in a closed league. Look how long its taken the nab to agree to add 2 more teams. Relegation only works in open leagues so you have enough teams to fill the lower ranks unless you wanna have 3 leagues of 10 teams. The g league teams can’t be added because they dont act as independent bodies but essentially as a development program.

TheyTooktheUsernames | Magic

185 | 5 hours ago

so if a team genuinely sucks then sorry, that’s too bad, you’re cooked and you have reduced odds of getting whoever the next big thing is next year

thank you Mr. For Life, greatest league commissioner since Infantino

BigDKane | HOU

99 | 5 hours ago

I don’t understand this argument. Rarely are teams in the bottom 3 that bad on accident. Teams intentionally are that bad.

ItyBityKittyCommitee

89 | 5 hours ago

Well if being bad is punished, then no one will intentionally be bad, and then the bottom 3 teams will all be that bad on accident.

ScalperHunter | Pistons

104 | 4 hours ago

And they will fight to not be bottom 3, instead of fighting to be bottom 3… Like come on, this is obviously an improvement

Omega-Toad-7017 | Bulls

14 | 4 hours ago

Except they’ll also be fighting to not be bottom 3 the next year, and the year after, and the year after, and the year after that.

BigDKane | HOU

35 | 4 hours ago

Good, teams should be actively trying to win every game they play.

Chaahps

10 | 3 hours ago

They’re gonna be playing to win, but not getting any better because they’re not getting good top picks and no free agent is gonna wanna sign with a shit team. They’re gonna get caught in the spin cycle

BigDKane | HOU

3 | 3 hours ago

Ask the Kings and Pelicans how their top picks are working out?

Painwracker_Oni | Timberwolves

12 | 3 hours ago

How about we ask the Wolves who literally only escaped the bottom 3 despite trying to win for over a decade because they moved up in the draft as a bottom 3 team and got KAT and Ant.

diddlyumpcious4 | Timberwolves

3 | an hour ago

You don’t need a top pick to improve enough to become the 26th best team. Free agency is more likely to do that either way.

nsfwaccount098

2 | 3 hours ago

The worst place for a team is to be the chicago bulls. Constantly mid and never actually improving

BigDKane | HOU

3 | 3 hours ago

Bad example, one of the worst run organizations in the league.

JohnnyTsunami312

4 | 2 hours ago

Here’s how to escape: Step up when good teams are offloading. Pick up the final year of a contract without a guaranteed renewal. Leverage your available cap space to make moves.

_Wash | Timberwolves

7 | 4 hours ago

And if you’re not good enough to not clear the bottom 3, go fuck yourself right?

Flatten the odds or hurt bottom teams, both is idiotic

TomBahambadil

22 | 4 hours ago

If you are still trash, fire the GM, coach, trade players. So many games can be won in an 82 game season just by playing hard.

Lusty-Jove | Heat

10 | 4 hours ago

Fire everyone and trade players

Congrats now you suck ass. What next?

diddlyumpcious4 | Timberwolves

3 | an hour ago

Spend money in free agency. It’s not like you have to put together a good team. It’d take a cheap as fuck owner and terrible GM(s) to actually get stuck in the bottom three long term.

BirdmanTheThird | Wizards

9 | 4 hours ago

What happens when getting rid of ur players means your even worse

_Wash | Timberwolves

8 | 4 hours ago

Who want to trade for players from a bottom 3 team?

Someone has to be bottom 3 and with flattened odds there’s not point in trying to be that bad

crewserbattle | Bucks

8 | 4 hours ago

Except now a team that should be the 8th worst team could feasibly tank to the 4th or 5th worse. Flattening odds only makes tanking more viable for more teams.

bigj1er

3 | 4 hours ago

Ok but what is the point of a team like the wizards fighting for more wins? They have a bad roster with bad talent. If they don’t get help in the draft and can use their picks as valuable assets, then they’re stuck in a soccer style never going to win cycle, like how we know crystal palace won’t win the prem.

The tanking issues are so overblown, I don’t care for Washington fighting for 5 more wins

ScalperHunter | Pistons

6 | 4 hours ago

Crystal Palace won the FA cup literally last year. Your point has no legs to stand.

bigj1er

3 | 4 hours ago

How? The FA cup is the not the premier league.

Leicester sneaking one would’ve been a better example to counter me

JayJax_23 | Washington Bullets

3 | 4 hours ago

People on here talking like there’s a big difference between winning 20 and 25 games when you’re still bad either way

bigj1er

2 | 2 hours ago

Yup the end product is still poor.

Like even Miami - they’re a play in team, so much better than bottom of the barrel like Sacramento or Brooklyn, and does anyone really enjoy the product they’re putting out currently other than their fans? They’re mediocre AF.

I actually think expansion is madness, the league could use less teams tbh, there is not enough talent. More concentrated rosters would make for a better league imo - less innings eaters and teams being forced to just find ways to stay afloat during minutes involving the end of rotation guys

Willyr0 | Nets

2 | 3 hours ago

But they’ll be bottom 3 for much longer than a tanking team would? Meanwhile every other team has success that they can build off of. The most likely scenario here is that some small market teams get stuck cycling through longshot players hoping to get a Giannis

diddlyumpcious4 | Timberwolves

2 | an hour ago

You don’t need a top pick to improve your team enough to become 26th in the league. So many people seem to think free agency just suddenly doesn’t exist after reading this change.

Kobe_stan_ | Lakers

2 | 3 hours ago

Yes, but even if all of the teams are fighting not to be bottom 3 (what we want), there obviously has to be a bottom 3, and those bottom 3 will be punished with worse odds of improving their team.

Spiritual_Wall_2309

4 | 4 hours ago

They are not punished because they should not be rewarded to begin with. If a team with many major injuries and they cause them bad record, it does not mean the team is bad in nature. That is what bad luck is.

Suspicious-Gur6127 | Pacers

13 | 4 hours ago

Say it works, everybody stops tanking. The worst 3 teams in the league have the same odds of a good pick as the playin teams??? Gonna fuckin’ suck as a fan of a bad team down the stretch of the season and end up with the same prospects of improving in the draft as the Heat

cl353 | Heat

15 | 4 hours ago

we deserve that shit lmao. trying to win games no matter the circumstances should be the norm

Lusty-Jove | Heat

3 | 4 hours ago

Except it’s worse to win the 7-8 playin games than to lose, and it’s worse to lose the 7-8 playin games than to be a 9-10 seed, and it’s worse to be a 9-10 seed than to miss the playoffs entirely. You’re still incentivized to lose, just in a very specific way

cubonelvl69 | Timberwolves

2 | 4 hours ago

I mean it beats European soccer where bottom teams get deleted from the league

ACW1129 | Wizards

12 | 4 hours ago

Have you SEEN the Wizards?

BigDKane | HOU

4 | 4 hours ago

They got two former All-NBA players on their roster, what are you talking about? 😎

BritzBeef

7 | 4 hours ago

What do you consider intentionally bad? Trading away players in their late 20s for picks and taking shots on younger players? Because that’s just about the whole economy of sports trade markets.

Thehelloman0 | Spurs

3 | 4 hours ago

Teams clearly try to lose the last month or two of the season by benching players, they’re trying to prevent that with these changes

Additional_Egg_6685

5 | 2 hours ago

The nets literally have zero talent and are in the bottom 3

Painwracker_Oni | Timberwolves

3 | 3 hours ago

I watched the wolves try to win for more than a decade while failing spectacularly. The ONLY reason we got out of the basement is because in the ONLY two drafts we moved up - where there was no consensus best player - we got KAT and Ant. If we had been stuck drafting in the teens for a decade we’d STILL be in the basement.

Complex_Plantain519

2 | an hour ago

There were teams trying so hard to be so bad this year, that they willingly paid fines to keep being bad.

krazymclovin

50 | 5 hours ago

If the rules were applied today OKC would have higher chance to get the #1 pick because of The Flippers

InAingeWeTrust | Celtics

14 | 5 hours ago

These teams that are at the bottom are at the bottom because they have tried their hardest to be as bad as possible.

BritzBeef

19 | 4 hours ago

So if that fixes it and everyone starts trying we’ll just be punishing the actual worst teams and locking them in place.

cl353 | Heat

17 | 4 hours ago

guys…u can get better without having a top 3 pick

the top 3 players in the nba for the last 5 years b4 wemby were all drafted outside of the top 10

cubonelvl69 | Timberwolves

12 | 4 hours ago

Warriors dynasty was built on

Curry at 7

Thompson at 11

Green at 35

And then a few years later draft wiseman at 2 lmao

Meng3267 | Bulls

7 | 4 hours ago

Just draft well from the 5th spot. If you can’t ever do that then your organization sucks and you don’t deserve to be given a generational talent at the 1 spot.

greenscizor | Spurs

5 | 4 hours ago

Why do people say this like it’s a bad thing? We should punish the actually bad teams. Only in American sports leagues to teams get rewarded for sucking. It’s been so ingrained in our heads that it feels wrong to suggest doing the opposite.

DecisionSea3955 | Timberwolves

3 | 5 hours ago

Now, yes. But going forward it just solves one problem with a bigger problem. There won’t be tanking, but the worst teams will be more likely to stay horrible by being penalized in the draft.

negativelynegative

9 | 4 hours ago

If worst teams banks on just getting a trancedent player from the draft that is guaranteed to be #1 picks like LeBron or wemby to not stay horrible, then they deserve to stay horrible.

They will still get multiple lottery picks that they can try to find good even great players from. Learn to run the franchise well instead of counting on luck alone.

Maximum-Class5465

4 | 4 hours ago

They just lose a few ping pong balls.

KembaWakaFlocka

3 | 4 hours ago

Would love to see the geniuses of this sub tackle any of these issues. Would make hilarious tv

cl353 | Heat

2 | 4 hours ago

this might actually solve the “midtier players only get minimum salaries” issue the 2nd apron has caused. the bottom tier teams with capspace actually have incentive to sign him to decent contracts in order to have a decent team

jamespesto | Bucks

139 | 5 hours ago

This might actually be the worst solution possible

TriviaWhiz | Knicks

36 | 4 hours ago

They’re trying to create a Premier League-like fight to avoid “relegation” by incentivizing bad teams to play harder at the end of the year so they can escape the “relegation zone” and get one extra ping pong ball in the lottery.

Not sure if that will have quite the same tension, but they’re going to try.

TheGranitePark

4 | 3 hours ago

All a that effort and smoke, for this horrible solution. Joke of a league

onphonecanttype

2 | 3 hours ago

That makes no sense. In Premier League relegation has huge financial impacts to the club and players. Player contracts have relegation clauses that could impact their salaries by 40-50%.

The NBA has almost the exact opposite if the #1 pick plays your position wouldn’t you want to brick every shot so that your team doesn’t get the #1 pick.

The Premier League incentives players by having huge financial impacts to them.

-stillacavsfan

23 | 4 hours ago

I don’t understand this take. The goal is to disincentivize tanking, and this does exactly that. The league has shown that if you give even the smallest marginal advantage to losing, organizations will do whatever it takes to gain that advantage.

I would much rather watch a league that has a few perennially dogshit franchises but is competitive top to bottom besides them, then one that tries to help the dogshit teams by incentivizing losing. 10 out of 30 teams were tanking for the last few months of the season. That’s ¹⁄₃ of the league trying to lose on purpose every game, they 100% had to make a drastic change.

lava172 | Suns

10 | 4 hours ago

Because “tanking” is an unsolvable problem in a league with 30 teams and less than 30 playoff spots, and all these attempts to “fix” it only end up having adverse side effects that just turn the league into more of a circus than it already is

-stillacavsfan

14 | 4 hours ago

It’s definitely not unsolvable. What is the incentive to lose now if these suggested rules are implemented?

floridabeach9

3 | an hour ago

“we will never solve it”

uh. yea this is an insane improvement that will make the bottom teams try harder at the end of the year.

i miss seeing the bad teams actually try on a regular basis. sorry you dont care and have this super defeatist attitude.

PurpleWoodpecker2830

9 | 4 hours ago

Thank you Chancellor Nosferatu

Broke_Banker01 | Bucks

132 | 5 hours ago

So when we trade Giannis we can purposely tank to screw over New Orleans and Portland?

Checkmate.

hayzeusofcool | Bulls

36 | 4 hours ago

Haha the swapped pick teams are definitely loving or hating this move.

Single-Purpose-7608

7 | an hour ago

They certainly feel Aladeen about it

dugtr1o

12 | 4 hours ago

Now this is funny

Carcrusher3 | Trail Blazers

4 | 4 hours ago

insert Jon Bernthal Punisher gif

LHamiltonPP | Pelicans

134 | 4 hours ago

Can’t wait for people to freak out about a 40 win team adding a superstud prospect and the league going back to weighting things towards the worst teams again in 5 years

hlebtastic

107 | 4 hours ago

Literally the whole point of this is that you can. It makes it so being a 40 win team isn’t worse for your long term goals than being a 16 win team. That way 25-30 win teams will try to become 40 win teams and not 16 win teams. It’s literally the goal for those teams to win the lottery sometimes. The incentive doesn’t work if it doesn’t.

Alchion

63 | 4 hours ago

chicago bulls gm has just been living in the future

ambal87 | 76ers

19 | 3 hours ago

Would be hilarious if they finally pivot to bottoming out

MildRedSalsa | Bulls

1 | 23 minutes ago

We just did. Nearly everyone with any value was moved at the trade deadline.

ositola | Lakers

19 | 4 hours ago

I’d rather this happen than reward the jazz for their shenanigans

chitownbulls92 | Bulls

2 | 3 hours ago

But then for teams that are bad for reasons outside of their full control, they’ll just essentially suck forever. That’s not a solution either

Lazy-Shower

17 | 3 hours ago

I mean when the Bulls won the lottery and got D Rose that was awesome. It made a 40 win team a contender because they had all the complementary pieces in place, just needed a superstar. Why should the top prospects rot away for ²⁄₃ years on a 15 win team. Those are typically bad run organizations and should fix their front offense coaching and culture before being able to ruin a prospect.

CasualRead_43

5 | an hour ago

Middle of the road teams were the most hopeless at least now they can try and compete and still get a chance to get a better pick.

CharacterFresh852 | Hornets

68 | 5 hours ago

This is so stupid, imagine being an actual bad team and you fall to the 12th pick. 🤦🏽‍♂️

hlebtastic

32 | 4 hours ago

Then you are incentivized to make small changes at the deadline to make incremental progress.

sportsworker777 | Suns

19 | 4 hours ago

People acting like trades and free agent signings aren’t a thing

IllegitimateRisk | Nuggets

4 | 4 hours ago

Nope there is only the draft. And there are DEFINITELY no trade day transactions. But do you know what does exist? Suppressed rage that can only be expressed towards something that cannot be altered.

ReSoLVve

2 | 3 hours ago

Good players don’t want to go to bad teams.

CBA, max deal, and 2nd Apron have also made it harder to build a team in free agency. Most top teams right now have been built through the draft.

A bad team has no incentive to trade their draft picks for a win now piece just to improve their draft positions.

They also don’t want to trade their young players with potential, which is the only thing other teams would even want in a trade.

diddlyumpcious4 | Timberwolves

2 | an hour ago

You don’t have to sign the top free agents to become 26th though. You guys are acting like those bottom three teams need to build a contender or something. They don’t. They just need to turn their awful team into a bad team.

Spiritual_Wall_2309

10 | 4 hours ago

Actual bad team because they don’t manage right. They should work hard to dig themselves out and less rely on lottery.

Lusty-Jove | Heat

1 | 4 hours ago

Yeah like through Free Agency!

oh

Spiritual_Wall_2309

3 | 4 hours ago

There is trade. There is FA. You just have to know where to spend the cap space.

Lusty-Jove | Heat

4 | 4 hours ago

Lol

JoeBiden2020FTW | Lakers

6 | 4 hours ago

I don’t think it’s a horrible proposal given the constraints at hand:

Incompetent organizations need hope, so there has to be some concept of a draft where you can basically force great players onto incompetent organizations. “Abolish the draft” is interesting thought experiment, but the billionaire owners will never vote for it.
The existence of a draft fundamentally incentivizes tanking. And widespread tanking is bad for fans, players, coaches, TV partners, ticket sales, etc. So widespread tanking should also be addressed.

There’s just a lot of things to account for, it’s hard to thread the needle, and there’s trade offs with every solution.

Sea_Dawgz

2 | 4 hours ago

Will it be like it is now?

Only top 3 ping pong balls move to top. If you don’t jump to top 3, you’d stay where you belong.

Like, the worst pick the worst team can have is #4.

BritzBeef

33 | 5 hours ago

The NBA continuing to refuse to acknowledge that a team can just be bad.

Complex_Plantain519

6 | an hour ago

Bad teams isn’t the problem. Bad teams on purpose is the problem.

floridabeach9

2 | an hour ago

which team was that this year

owensoundgamedev | Raptors

3 | an hour ago

Pacers?

floridabeach9

3 | an hour ago

they rested a bunch of their starters mid way through several games this year…

they blatantly tanked…

completebrainrot | Trail Blazers

33 | 5 hours ago

I genuinely hate this idea. Penalizing the bottom 3 teams will be so unfair. The bottom 3 teams usually fucking suck!

Revolutionary-Dark21

28 | 4 hours ago

Counterpoint: don’t suck.

completebrainrot | Trail Blazers

18 | 4 hours ago

We have this system in place to help bad teams get better. It’s called the Draft!

DisMFer | Bulls

9 | 4 hours ago

It’s to force teams to pay stars to play there and actually use the guys they have. Like a team like the Kings actually sucked their way to 20 wins but the Jazz were intentionally losing games. It’s basically telling teams to build from the middle. So it’s bad to be at the bottom but also be at the 7th seed. Ths goal for a rebuild now is to be like the Bulls or the Hornets. Good enough to win 30 games but not winning 45 games without a major draft luck.

completebrainrot | Trail Blazers

12 | 4 hours ago

But the nature of the standings requires teams to be at the bottom. Someone has gotta be the loser. You will see small markets plunged into the dark ages with these changes if they get unlucky and end up getting stuck at the bottom.

This is a fake issue turned into a real one because gambling partners are turning the screw on Silver. There is no change possible that makes a mid February Wizards/Nets game broadly appealing to fans.

I can empathize with the feeling of buying a ticket, going to a game, and not seeing your favorite player. That’s an issue with season length, not tanking in my opinion.

lava172 | Suns

2 | 4 hours ago

It really does feel like this league is intentionally killing itself

diddlyumpcious4 | Timberwolves

2 | an hour ago

There’s another thing called free agency to make teams better too. Teams are even allowed to make trades to improve as well! Who knew?

No one should feel bad for a team too incompetent to build the 26th best team in the league. That is still a really bad team. If you can’t put together a really bad team, that’s on you.

Lusty-Jove | Heat

4 | 4 hours ago

Someone has to suck though. Someone has to be one of the three worst teams in the NBA, and now they’re just gonna get shat on in perpetuity

Ok_Football7083

2 | 4 hours ago

Correct-spend money and get better.

jasperplumpton | Pacers

2 | 4 hours ago

Teams about to be forcing guys to play through injuries on a 15-50 team to get out of the bottom 3

_Wash | Timberwolves

30 | 5 hours ago

Absolutely hate this

If you’re going to flatten odds why the fuck are you double-punishing actual bad teams by worsening their odds with a dumbass ‘relegation’ zone

ThunderBobMajerle | Suns

2 | an hour ago

Right like you have “tanking” teams that can apparently win more games if they wanted and now will be incentivized to win the right amount for the best pick. It’s still tanking in that they will manipulate their standing for the best pick.

Bad teams that can’t win more even if they wanted are just left at the bottom getting fucked

ffinstructor

26 | 4 hours ago

What a terrible idea.

In what world should the 3 worst teams in the league have the sames odds at the #1 pick as the 9 and 10 seeds. They literally get to play in the postseason. Just a diabolical move.

This isn’t doing anything to stop tanking.

CuriousAttorney2518

19 | 4 hours ago

I’d say it helps tanking, just doesn’t help when teams are actually bad

ffinstructor

3 | 4 hours ago

All it will do is make the three bottom teams try to play. And these teams are horrible in the first place. Still going to be insane tanking to be between 4 and 10.

Meng3267 | Bulls

7 | 4 hours ago

It doesn’t make just the bottom 3 teams try to play. It makes the bottom 5 or 6 teams try to play because they’ll all want to stay out of the bottom 3.

clickstops | 76ers

3 | 4 hours ago

Forcing Washington, Indiana, Brooklyn, and Utah to try after the all star break would for sure make things more interesting, though. Play in teams don’t get gimee games. Building a garbage team like Brooklyn on purpose is less incentivized.

TheRealPdGaming | Mavericks

28 | 5 hours ago

adam is a dumbass who doesn’t realize that adding MORE teams with similar chances to get the #1 pick will INCREASE tanking, not decrease it…

Yogurtproducer | Raptors

12 | 5 hours ago

Who is tanking in this scenario? Like legitimately, there is no incentive to be 4th worst or 10th worse. So who’s tanking?

Disregardskarma | Hornets

14 | 5 hours ago

The 11th team

Wants_to_be_accepted | Celtics

8 | 4 hours ago

Yup, teams will be tanking for the lottery rather than trying to make the play-in

hlebtastic

8 | 4 hours ago

The 11th team might tank for 10 late in the season when they are cooked and don’t want play in. Could happen.

But what won’t happen is 10 teams tanking for three months to be in the bottom 5. It just doesn’t make sense in the incentive structure. The idea that this is going to increase tanking is just wrong I think

NYCSportsFan

6 | 5 hours ago

The teams who are good enough to make the playoffs but not good enough to win a championship, there are a lot of those especially if you ask the fans.

JayJax_23 | Washington Bullets

3 | 4 hours ago

The fans were implying teams like the Wizards fell into this category which was laughable

ExaltedOvergrowth

2 | 4 hours ago

No, the wizards are about to be doomed to the bottom 3, all these teams that want to tank will go nuclear on a roster like yours.

We just had a season where 10 teams had a positive win loss ratio in the east, all that will happen is they will go quiet against actual contenders and turn on against bad teams.

This is a move that a team like the Knicks or Pistons could operate with next year if they feel they just can’t really compete with Boston.

We will ultimately get worse teams in the postseason, because mid teams will be elevated while good teams tank to become great.

TomBahambadil

2 | 4 hours ago

Whatever his solution is will work next year because the draft is not nearly as stacked as this year.

Desert_Haze12

19 | 4 hours ago

Having teams that are borderline on the playoff bubble having an incentive not to win is nasty work.

Why bother fighting in the play in to end up as an #8 seed when you can tank a little and end up in the lottery?

On top of that, punishing the bottom 3 teams is insane.

I get trying a “If you finish in the bottom 3, three years in a row you get slightly punished on odds” to promote the very worst of tanking for multiple years straight

But just for one year? Wtf

WetAndWildOperator

7 | 3 hours ago

Because you make the playoffs?? The league has the most parity it’s had in forever, Orlando is up 3-1 against the Pistons, and this change would only introduce more parity. You think owners (for revenue), coaches (to keep their job), and players (to win) don’t wanna play in playoff games and would rather have a 5% chance of getting a top pick?? A 5% chance is minuscule enough that it doesn’t matter. And no team is gonna try to avoid the play in tournament entirely either cause a 5% vs 8% chance at a top pick is entirely irrelevant compared to a chance at making the playoffs. It also would be too late anyways, cause just this year the 10 seed Heat were only 3 games back of the ⁵⁄₆ seed. And with this rule change that would only introduce even more parity towards the middle of the league and it would only become tighter.

Less-Captain4426

16 | 5 hours ago

This is so stupid and is only a problem because it impacts gambling corps that should not exist.

pakidude17 | CHI

2 | 3 hours ago

That’s mostly my pushback. I don’t think the proposal is all that terrible but I personally think the NBA has fundamentally larger issues than tanking.

ImpressionCertain736

10 | 5 hours ago

Adam Silver is a moron

Lusty-Jove | Heat

7 | 4 hours ago

BREAKDOWN OF ODDS:

1-3 worst records: 5.13% each

4-10 (missed play-in): 7.69% each

Losers of 7-8 seed games (both conferences): 2.56% each

Play-in seeds 9 and 10: 5.13% each

Playoff teams: 0%

IN ADDITION:

-Cannot win #1 overall twice in a row

-Cannot pick in the top 5 three times in a row

-Cannot protect picks on the 12-15 range

-Expanded punishment for tanking violations

-Opt-out clause after 2029 draft

Ts is so ass lmao

ThunderBobMajerle | Suns

3 | an hour ago

All those additions seem fine and make the odds change unecessary

MallardDuckBoy | Bulls

7 | 4 hours ago

I like it, it forces bad teams to actually give a shit.

JayJax_23 | Washington Bullets

5 | 5 hours ago

Don’t complain or be surprised if some markets completely become apathetic or tune out when their team is bad and continually gets fucked over in the lotto

18banners090 | Celtics

4 | 4 hours ago

Fuck the haters, great solution

floop_isamad_manhelp | Nuggets

5 | 4 hours ago

I’m gonna go on record saying this is a huge mistake. It’ll sound good and quiet the masses for the summer. In practice this spells doom for the dregs of the league. Want to rebuild your franchise? Better hope you don’t get fucked by randomness.

I thought they wanted to model after the NFL’s legendary parity? Randomness =/= fairness

JoeBiden2020FTW | Lakers

4 | 5 hours ago

Bruh just increase the rookie scale amounts and get rid of RFA

Suddenly the value of draft picks goes down and tanking is virtually eliminated

KiraJosuke

4 | 4 hours ago

All this talk has polarized me into believing we should just get rid of the lottery all together

thomfr1908

4 | 4 hours ago

Silver is actually bending his knees for gambling companies 😂😂

ReSirum

4 | 3 hours ago

Man, I love the idea of all the bad teams staying bad instead of getting good players

There’s gonna be six small market teams that just always suck because nobody will sign to play in Sacramento, and because there will be no real players on their team, they’ll win 12 games, and end up with the ninth pick in the draft, or whatever

CrapNBAappUser | Warriors

2 | 2 hours ago

They can trade and pay for good players.

Current_Can_3715 | NBA

3 | 4 hours ago

They are only making a push against tanking because it harms their interests with gambling.

There are far bigger issues product wise than a handful of bad teams that are trying to lose and secure a potential future.

CarDesperate1893 | Hawks

3 | 3 hours ago

I actually like it

HesburghLibrarian

3 | 3 hours ago

More complexity is always the right choice.

BatmanSwift99

2 | 4 hours ago

Love this as a Heat fan

radwimps | Raptors

2 | 4 hours ago

Do real relegation you cowards

NotOfficial1 | Jazz

2 | 4 hours ago

I think my biggest problem with these changes is that tanking will still happen, it’ll just be nearer the end of the season when teams can safely fight for the best odds from 4th to 6th worst or whatever when they know they’re safe from bottom 3. Tanking the whole season will definitely be reduced by a ton but idk if this is worth it for the BTA it will give genuinely terrible teams

LegateDamar13

2 | 3 hours ago

Good

Alfakennyone

2 | 3 hours ago

Just make the lottery a tournament. Winner gets #1 pick, so on and so forth

ChristmasJay83

2 | 3 hours ago

I like this plan a lot

illini81 | Bulls

2 | 3 hours ago

The NBA sucks. lol

Canesjags4life | Heat

2 | an hour ago

Relegate the bottom 3 teams to the G League

EuroLegend23

2 | an hour ago

The relegation zone should just mean you don’t get your pick and it’s passed on to the next worst team.

Fantastic-Turnip5661 | Nuggets

1 | 4 hours ago

What a trash solution

Akipella | Warriors

1 | 4 hours ago

Sigh

NoWayJefe

1 | 4 hours ago

Then coin flips to decide the ties will be epic

Wondur13

1 | 4 hours ago

Jazz front office in absolute shambles

remotecontroldr

1 | 4 hours ago

Kings can’t have shit

hlebtastic

4 | 4 hours ago

This would have helped the Kings this year. They fell to fifth after their young players started winning some games down the home stretch while every other team behind them started bending over backwards trying to lose games.

Under the current system that little win streak was bad for them. Young guys coming together and winning games, something a rebuilding team should in theory be very happy about. Under this system it would have helped them.

FuqueMePapi | Timberwolves

1 | 4 hours ago

This better go in effect for this draft. Otherwise this is very much a punishing others for what shitty coaches and teams did.

What would the worst teams even say in response if they did it this draft? “Oh we wouldn’t have tanked intentionally if we knew that” lol.

thiswasandy | Spurs

1 | 4 hours ago

In a radical pivot from ping-pong balls to high-stakes gladiatorial combat, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced today that the league will determine the No. 1 overall pick through a mandatory “Executive Deathmatch.” Starting in 2027, the fourteen non-playoff General Managers will be air-dropped into a reinforced steel cage suspended over the mid-court logo at Madison Square Garden.

Silver, citing a need to “curb the incentive for tanking” and “maximize Q3 engagement metrics,” noted that the last executive standing will earn their franchise the right to draft the next generational prospect. “We’ve heard the fans’ desire for more transparency,” Silver remarked while polishing a ceremonial mace. “Nothing says ‘basketball integrity’ like watching a front-office analytics expert defend a corner-three position with a fiberglass shield.” Under the new rules, the first executive to yield or be “mathematically eliminated” will receive the 14th pick, while the winner secures the top selection and a commemorative championship cloak.

Punjabiveer30 | Raptors

1 | 4 hours ago

That’s like the bank charging people for not having enough money in the bank, broke tax

Maximum-Class5465

1 | 4 hours ago

NGL, I like it

sonic_4 | Supersonics

1 | 4 hours ago

Just make the soccer relegation system. That will stop tanking

randomname3415 | 76ers

1 | 4 hours ago

This just incentives teams close to the play in to tank to fall within the 4-10 spots

CenturyBreak

1 | 4 hours ago

Adam silver has completely ruined the NBA

CurrentCostanza | Trail Blazers

1 | 4 hours ago

Anything except an 18 or 10 team lottery means there is a possibility of teams tanking the play in game.

fisheggsoup | Jazz

1 | 4 hours ago

🤣 The Jazz would be among the teams with the best odds since we finished tied for 4th!

elegantwino

1 | 4 hours ago

Reduce the league to 24 teams in the NBA and the bottom two records get relegated to the next lower league where the top two finishers move up.

SkepticalHippo93 | Pelicans

1 | 4 hours ago

I hate it.

If they made it where you can’t fall more than X spots I guess it’s better but as a fan of a shit team, and shit organization I can just see using being in shit purgatory forever.

Outrageous-Dig-8853 | Wizards

1 | 4 hours ago

On one hand, i like incentives against tanking and forcing owners and gm’s to maybe put some effort even when rebuilding

But in the other hand, this will fucking kill small market teans lmao.

mellted_cheese

1 | 4 hours ago

This is good

DDB- | NBA

1 | 3 hours ago

This seems like it just penalizes being legitimately bad.

I’m a proponent of the Gold Plan that is being used in the PWHL. That incentivizes winning even after you’re mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, and the really bad teams will have a lot more games to pick up gold plan wins than the mediocre teams that miss in the final week.

KickOk155

1 | 3 hours ago

This idea has some momentum at the beginning and then Adam silver does his thing and turns it into the worst possible set up ever.

Silver is definitely NOT gold folks.

finkalicious | Mavs

1 | 3 hours ago

This seems really unfair to any team decimated by injuries

TheRealTofuey | Spurs

1 | 3 hours ago

Honestly I would rather reward a team that is Bad but is trying to be good then a team that is bad and will benefit for it.

csstew55 | Pistons

1 | 3 hours ago

How about they focus on flopping and foul baiting.

rocket_beer | Celtics

1 | 3 hours ago

Love it

Tanking is poo poo

thabigmilla | Charlotte Hornets

1 | 3 hours ago

Does it start for this years draft?

Pourcqchops

1 | 3 hours ago

“In addition, no team would be able to win the top pick in consecutive years or be able to win three consecutive top-five picks.”

Does anyone know if this means your own pick cannot be top 5 in 3 consecutive years/first in consecutive years or does that include picks acquired from other teams, as well?

a34fsdb

1 | 3 hours ago

Great change.

BensThreePointer | Puerto Rico

1 | 3 hours ago

Miami about to assemble the greatest team ever seen in History. 😂

CobraOverlord

1 | 3 hours ago

NBA is doing the bidding of their soulless draft kings overlords

Dankersaur

1 | 3 hours ago

Feel like no matter what the try to do or not do, this league is just going to continue to get worse and worse.

NoLivesEverMattered | Wizards

1 | 3 hours ago

This is so stupid. I really don’t think that Adam Silver and team know what they are doing anymore.

docbauies | Kings

1 | 3 hours ago

So now the teams that really suck get worse odds to win the lottery? Am I understanding this correctly?

Additional_Egg_6685

1 | 2 hours ago

So if you’re genuinely just a bad roster, with little talent, keep finishing in the bottom 3 and repeatedly get high picks your just stuck 🤷‍♂️ makes sense.

GeriatricGamete67 | Nuggets

1 | 2 hours ago

This shit is so stupid

Smartypants_dankie | Mavericks

1 | 2 hours ago

Bro I feel so bad for the Wizards fans 😭😭 getting fucked in the bum more and more each year

shtoogieman8

1 | an hour ago

I mean no way this is real right?

eyeguy21 | Bulls

1 | an hour ago

Remember folks… Adam Silver literally said it’s a high light league.

You don’t need to watch, just catch the replays

Complex_Plantain519

1 | an hour ago

I, for one, am very excited to completely disincentivize tanking.

[Charania] The NBA has disclosed to its 30 GMs a singular new anti-tanking reform that expands the draft lottery to 16 teams, flattens odds, and have a relegation zone where the bottom 3 teams are penalized with fewer lottery balls for the No. 1 pick.