The NBA’s newest anti-tanking overhaul obtained overwhelming assist from group house owners, however not with out one notable exception.
The league’s Board of Governors authorized the brand new draft lottery reforms by a 29-1 vote, with the Memphis Grizzlies casting the one vote towards the proposal, sources instructed ESPN.
The bundle consists of a number of main adjustments designed to discourage tanking and cut back the motivation for groups to deliberately lose video games in pursuit of higher draft odds.
Based on ESPN, Memphis’ opposition was not rooted within the broader anti-tanking measures themselves, however slightly one particular provision throughout the new system.
The Grizzlies objected to the rule stopping a group from touchdown a top-five draft decide in three consecutive years.
As Bobby Marks famous, the Grizzlies at present personal essentially the most favorable 2027 first-round choice amongst Cleveland, Minnesota and Utah.
As a result of the Jazz are projected to obtain one other top-five decide this 12 months, the brand new guidelines would routinely make Utah ineligible for a top-five choice in 2027.
That restriction might probably cut back the worth and upside of the decide Memphis controls, giving the Grizzlies a direct aggressive purpose to oppose the reform regardless of widespread assist from the remainder of the league.
Sources mentioned the Grizzlies voted towards the brand new lottery reform solely due to the brand new rule disallowing a group from choosing high 5 in 3 consecutive years. As @BobbyMarks42 says, the Grizzlies have the extra favorable 2027 first-rounder of Cleveland, Minnesota and Utah, and… https://t.co/BMbYAbr776
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 28, 2026
