Tanking has become a hot issue in the NBA, as it's been a controversial discussion for several years now. Teams that are not in the mix for the playoffs seem to bench their star players in the hopes of losing and improving their odds of obtaining a high-value draft pick. On Wednesday, Commissioner Adam Silver claimed the league is going to address the issue soon.
During the NBA Board of Governors press conference, Silver claimed the league is going to have a meeting to potentially create tanking rule changes in May, according to ClutchPoints Insider Brett Siegel. If passed, the rules would take effect for the 2026-27 season.
“NBA Commissioner Adam Silver just said in his NBA Board of Governors press conference that there will be a ‘special meeting' in May to address and discuss the issue of tanking and potential rule changes for the 2026-27 season,” said Siegel.
Reports indicate that the meetings will go over possible lottery reforms that could impact the upcoming offseason, per NBA Insider Marc Stein. It sounds like the soon-to-be 64-year-old Commissioner wants the changes to be made as soon as possible.
“Adam Silver says a special Board of Governors meeting will be called in May to vote on lottery reforms that go into effect for the 2026-27 season, AND before this summer's upcoming draft and free agency,” reported Stein. “‘We are going to fix it … full stop,' Silver says of addressing tanking.”
While competitiveness is seemingly questioned right now, Silver thinks adding two new franchises could help, per Siegel. The NBA is going to address the tanking issue, and Adam Silver doesn't appear to see any problems with increasing the league size from 30 teams to 32.
“We have ample talent to field 32 teams,” said Silver. “When we just had a 2-team expansion, 6% of the players were international. That's now 30%… Tanking is a confusing one and something we study… I'm not worried about the ability to have 32 competitive teams.”
The NBA will likely announce the outcome of the meetings later in May. If changes are to be made, we could see them impact the 2026 NBA Draft.
