As the NBA took a stand on injury reporting rules and has urged changes to sports gambling with new rules implemented within the last week, the league has now made steps to tackle potential tanking with teams. While the NBA has been seemingly frustrated with teams manipulating current rules to gain better draft position towards the end of the season, ESPN's Shams Charania reports the ideas that the league has presented to combat tanking.
“At a board of governors meeting Friday, the league presented several ideas around potential modifications to rules regarding draft pick protections, the draft lottery and other possible approaches, according to multiple sources,” Charania wrote on Tuesday morning for ESPN.
Charania has noted that the league has taken note of teams shutting down players early or sitting certain players to improve draft positioning, especially when connected to a protected pick. The NBA has thought of certain ideas, like limiting pick protections or even cutting down consecutive draft finishes, as explained by the ESPN insider.
“Limiting pick protections to either top four or 14 and higher, which would eliminate the problematic mid-lottery protections,” Charania continued as he listed the idea the league has with limiting tanking measures from teams. “No longer allowing a team to draft in the top four two years in a row. Locking lottery positions after March 1.”
NBA making changes in wake of federal arrests, including Terry Rozier
Some situations dealing with the NBA this season have been unprecedented, like the federal arrests made earlier this season of Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier, Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, and former player Damon Jones. The league had already implemented new rules on Friday to “combat insider information and performance manipulation.”
Still, an important note is that the NBA's proposal for these new rules isn't “intended to deter rebuilding teams who use their players as norman,” but the franchises that are using loopholes with their roster to gain an advantage.
“As multiple sources described, the attempts to find solutions to tanking are not intended to deter rebuilding teams who use their players as normal, but rather teams that deliberately manipulate their rosters down the stretch of a season in order to land a higher pick or a protection range,” Charania wrote.
At any rate, it remains to be seen what gets finalized by the NBA and if the long-term impacts will work out.
