As the Utah Jazz's tanking season continues, with the toughest schedule in the NBA in their favor the rest of the way, it appears that the crusade of NBA commissioner Adam Silver to stop tanking continues unabated.
While we previously discussed that abrupt changes mid-stream might be a disaster for the Utah Jazz, today's news gives us hope that the outcome will be beneficial for Danny Ainge and the front office.
Details of proposed anti-tanking proposals leaked ahead of a formal meeting, expected in May:
The NBA presented three comprehensive anti-tanking concepts to its Board of Governors on Wednesday, with modifications expected to each before a formal vote in May, per ESPN sources.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 27, 2026
1. 18 teams in draft lottery (seeds 7-15 in each conference) – flattened odds, with bottom 10…
And it appears the commissioner is going big instead of going home, as a whopping EIGHTEEN NBA TEAMS would participate in the lottery under the first proposal.
How would the new proposals differ?
Under the current flattened lottery rules, the league's bottom three teams each have a 14% chance at the top pick, with #4 at 12.5% and #5 at 10.5%, and it descends from there to the 14th team, which has a 0.5% chance.
One new proposal would have 18 teams involved in the lottery. The bottom 10 teams would each receive equal 8% odds at the top pick, and then the #11-18 teams would have declining chances from there at the top pick.
This proposal would have given teams like Memphis, Milwaukee, and Golden State access to the lottery for the 2025 draft. Each finished 48-34 and was a playoff or play-in participant a year ago.
Another of these proposals would have even MORE teams - 22 in all - participating in the lottery. 73% of the NBA teams. With this, the following teams could have landed Cooper Flagg with a jump in the lottery: the LA Clippers, Denver Nuggets, the LA Lakers, or even the Indiana Pacers (who made the NBA Finals last June)!
How would this impact the Utah Jazz?
While the glass-half-full folks might see this in a way where more NBA teams could jump the Utah Jazz in the lottery order (and they have history on their side), the optimists among us see the potential where a successful Utah Jazz team could end up rising from a mid-20's pick to a Top 4 one, the type of move that the Jazz have sorely needed over the years.
Imagine the Utah Jazz getting into the top four of the NBA Draft between 2018 and 2021. Instead of guys like Darius Bazley, Grayson Allen, Udoka Azubuike, or Santi Aldama (oops), the Jazz could have selected Scottie Barnes, Evan Mobley, LaMelo Ball, Ja Morant, Luka Doncic, or Trae Young.
Pair even one of those with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, and you have a very different Jazz team, one that would have a punching chance in the Western Conference.
And looking at the 2027 NBA Draft with the new rules in place, if the Jazz are a winning team in 2026-27, with a 42-40 record or similar, they would have better odds (likely 3-6%) than in the current system (between 0.5-2%) of getting the top pick.
And to those who laugh and say that 3-6% isn't that much better? Dallas had 1.8% odds a year ago to get the top pick. Atlanta had 3% odds in 2024. Both got the top pick.
The Utah Jazz should be ecstatic about this news, since their tanking is coming to an end, and it should give them better chances in the future of getting a high pick. Exactly the opposite of what Adam Silver wants.