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Adam Silver Planning To Add Anti-Tanking Rules Next Season

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 22: Victor Wembanyama (R) poses with NBA commissioner Adam Silver (L) after being drafted first overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs during the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft at Barclays Center on June 22, 2023 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced on Thursday that the league intends to add an anti-tanking policy starting next season.

The talks of adding an anti-tanking policy intensified during its December meeting with the NBA owners. They started proposing concepts of what the policy may look like.

The concepts that have been discussed include:

First-round draft picks can be protected only for top-four or top-14-plus selections
Lottery odds freeze at the trade deadline or a later date
No longer allowing a team to pick in the top four in consecutive years and/or after consecutive bottom-three finishes
Teams can’t pick in the top four the year after making the conference finals
Lottery odds allocated based on two-year records
Lottery extended to include all play-in teams
Flatten odds for all lottery teams

During Thursday’s GM meetings, Silver and the league expressed interest in maintaining the integrity of the league to help combat the ongoing tanking problem.

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The senior advisor to basketball operations, Mike Krzyzewski, the former Duke Blue Devils legendary head coach, gave a message saying that there should be a “tasteful” attack on the problem, and everyone involved should be ready to respond to whatever the league implements.

This comes in the wake of the NBA fining the Utah Jazz $500,000 and the Indiana Pacers $100,000 for players who were deemed healthy sitting out.