Adam Silver confirmed Wednesday that the NBA has finalized a draft lottery reform proposal that will be presented to team owners later this month.
The league hopes the new system will reduce the incentive for teams to intentionally lose games in pursuit of higher draft picks.
“We’ve essentially done, and we have a proposal that we’re going to be bringing to our team owners at the end of May, and that is to create essentially a system of flat odds, so that you have no particular incentive to be bad,” Silver said on Stephen A. Smith’s radio show.
The proposal matches the previously reported “3-2-1” lottery model.
Under the system, the league’s three worst teams would actually receive lower odds at the No. 1 pick than teams finishing fourth through tenth in the standings.
“If you’re one of the bottom three teams in the league, you’ll actually have worse odds than teams that sort of are four through up until teams make the playoffs,” Silver said. “We’re still playing a little bit with the system there.”
Silver described the concept as a form of “draft relegation” aimed at discouraging tanking across the league.
The proposal is expected to be voted on later this month and, according to league officials, is widely expected to pass.
Adam Silver Says NBA’s ‘System Of Flat Odds’ Will Give Teams ‘No Particular Incentive To Be Bad’ https://t.co/2G5XC9lhNo
— RealGM (@RealGM) May 14, 2026
