NBA team owners approved a revamped draft lottery system Tuesday designed to reduce incentives for teams to lose games in pursuit of higher draft picks.
The new “3-2-1 Lottery” system, approved by the NBA Board of Governors, will take effect beginning with the 2027 NBA Draft and remain in place through 2029. League officials said the changes are intended to strengthen competitive integrity and discourage tanking.
Under the revised format, the NBA Draft Lottery will expand from 14 to 16 teams and flatten the odds for non-playoff teams.
Teams that fail to qualify for either the NBA Playoffs or the NBA Play-In Tournament will receive three lottery balls each. However, the three teams with the worst regular-season records will lose one lottery ball as part of what the league called “draft relegation,” giving them reduced odds compared with other lottery participants.
The No. 9 and No. 10 Play-In Tournament seeds in each conference will receive two lottery balls each, while the losers of the No. 7 versus No. 8 Play-In games will receive one lottery ball apiece.
The lottery drawing will determine the order of the first 16 selections in the first round of the draft.
The NBA also introduced safeguards limiting how far teams can fall in the draft order. Teams subject to draft relegation will be guaranteed no worse than the No. 12 pick, while all other lottery teams can drop as far as No. 16.
Additional restrictions were approved to prevent repeated access to top draft positions. Teams will not be allowed to receive the No. 1 overall pick in consecutive drafts or land a top-five selection in three straight years. The rules apply only to a team’s original draft pick, regardless of whether the selection has been traded.
The league also approved new limits on draft-pick protections in trades. Teams will no longer be permitted to attach top-12 through top-15 protections to newly traded draft picks.
NBA officials said the league will expand its authority to penalize teams for tanking. Potential disciplinary measures include reducing lottery odds, altering draft positions and imposing fines.
The changes follow months of discussions between the league office and team stakeholders about competitive incentives and concerns surrounding intentional losing.
“Since October, the league office has met with key stakeholders to discuss current competitive incentives and solicit ideas aimed at discouraging tanking,” the NBA said in a statement.
The Board of Governors will vote again before the 2030 NBA Draft to determine whether to continue or modify the system.
