The potential draft changes to combat tanking in the NBA have dropped. If ratified by the Board of Governors, they would take effect in 2027. The problem with them is that small-market teams like the Sacramento Kings, who don't tank, will be negatively impacted, harming parity in the league.
Commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver, has been on the warpath against the practice of tanking. Some have speculated that legal sports gambling sites, which have invested heavily in the NBA, are behind the push as it hurts their business. That is an interesting theory at best, of course.
The current proposition is being called a '3-2-1' draft framework that allocates lottery balls depending on performance. It increases the number of teams involved to 16. The worst teams in the league get a more limited number of balls and opportunities to draft top talent from college.
While the plan allegedly has support from across the league, pundits have pointed out that this strategy creates problems for small-market teams, who already have problems keeping up with the big dogs. On top of that, it assumes every losing team is doing so intentionally. Some are just bad.
This could be rough on the Kings
FanSided has run a 2026 mock draft based on these prospective rules to see what it would look like this season. Again, these new rules would be implemented in 2027 at the earliest. Keep in mind that the Board of Governors is expected to make some changes before agreeing to this proposal.
In the case of the Kings, their 2025-2026 record would likely drop them to the 10th pick, where they are projected to go with Nate Ament. That's a good choice. Ament is a solid wing with a lot of upside. Honestly, the Kings could do a lot worse with a deeper first-round pick like being 10th.
Now, imagine that pick in a draft class that doesn't have such a deep talent pool. Suddenly, the 10th pick isn't so good. Even worse is the fact that the Kings weren't even trying to tank this season. They're just a poorly constructed team in a small market that got absolutely savaged by injuries.
Silver's obsession threatens to throw the baby out with the bathwater. He has long worked toward parity in the league, attempting to make sure all teams have access to great talent. His proposed anti-tanking strategy completely undermines those efforts by making that gulf bigger.
Add us as a preferred source on Google