[Bontemps] League officials expect the “3-2-1” anti-tanking proposal to be passed by the league this month. This proposal will give the three worst teams a lower percentage of winning the lottery than teams from 4th-10th. Silver will have ability to fine teams and strip them of their pick(s).
The system – the “3-2-1” system that ESPN first reported a couple of weeks ago – would give the three worst teams a lower percentage chance of winning the lottery than the teams picking from fourth to 10th in an effort to curb the need for teams to be as bad as possible to increase their chances of landing a high pick.
Silver also reaffirmed that the NBA will have the ability to discipline teams for overt tanking beyond what they have been able to do in the past. The league fined the Jazz $500,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league” earlier this season.
“And also ultimately additional authority for the league office that if we do see that type of behavior where there’s a sense that teams aren’t going all out to win, that we can actually take away draft lottery balls, we can change the order of the draft,” Silver said. “Teams have to know it’s not just about paying a financial fine, which they may think is worth it in order to get a top pick, but that it’ll directly impact their ability to get a top draft pick.”
League officials have told ESPN in recent days that the expectation was this proposal would be the one that is ultimately passed by the league this month. While some have wondered whether anything actually needs to change, there’s also a near universal belief that something was going to be passed to change the system in light of how the past couple of drafts went.