The "3-2-1 lottery" proposal, named to represent the number of lottery balls per team, would expand the lottery from 14 to 16 teams. Teams that do not qualify for the playoffs or play-in tournament but stay out of the relegation zone (spots four through 10) would receive three lottery balls each. Teams with a bottom-three record -- the relegation area -- would have just two lottery balls but have a floor of the 12th pick while the rest of the 13 lottery teams could fall as far as the 16th pick.
The 9th and 10th play-in seeds in each conference receive two lottery balls each while the losers of the 7-8 play-in games receive one lottery ball each.
In addition, no team would be able to win the top pick in consecutive years or be able to win three consecutive top-five picks. Teams also would not be able to protect picks in the 12 to 15 slots going forward.
The proposal includes a sunset provision so that the new system would expire following the 2029 draft, and allow the board of governors to continue the system or transition to a new one. The NBA's current collective bargaining agreement runs through the 2029-2030 season.
The league would also have expanded disciplinary authority to regulate tanking and have the option to reduce teams' lottery odds and/or modify teams' draft positions under the proposal.
All of the involved parties have brainstormed and developed several concepts over the last few months before finding this new, 16-team reform that high-ranking officials across the NBA believe will de-incentivize losing while drawing lottery balls for all 16 qualifying teams. It also incentivizes winning, particularly during the second half of the season, as the teams ranked near the bottom three would want to get out of the relegation zone while teams above them work for victories to stay out of the relegation zone.
