The NBA has circulated the newest version of its “3-2-1” draft lottery reform package to team owners ahead of next week’s Board of Governors meeting, according to Kevin O’Connor of Yahoo Sports. Governors are scheduled to vote on the measure on May 28.
The plan’s core elements remain unchanged since first disclosed last month. It still calls for:
- Sixteen lottery teams;
- Thirty-seven drawing balls and flattened odds;
- A relegation zone for the league’s three worst records;
- Protection restrictions for selections Nos. 12–15;
- A lottery drawing to decide each of the top 16 picks.
Clarifications on repeat lottery restrictions
The league has added details on two rules that apply to teams appearing in the lottery in successive years:
- A franchise cannot win the No. 1 overall pick in back-to-back drafts.
- No club may secure a top-five pick in three straight years.
Those limits will first apply to the 2027 draft, using 2025 and 2026 results as the baseline. Because Washington landed the top pick this year, the Wizards would be barred from receiving No. 1 again in 2027. If a prohibited team’s ball is drawn, the club will slide to the first available slot—Washington, for instance, would fall from No. 1 to No. 2 under that scenario.
The NBA specified that the restriction follows the original owner of a draft pick. Using Utah as an example, the Jazz selected No. 5 in 2025 and hold No. 2 in 2026, so their 2027 first-rounder cannot land in the top five even though Memphis owns swap rights on that pick. If the Grizzlies, rather than the Jazz, had finished in the top five in each of the previous two drafts, Memphis could still receive a top-five choice in 2027 via Utah’s pick; only the Grizzlies’ own selection would be blocked.
Executives expect the rule to influence the value of several picks already traded for 2027–29. Memphis, which acquired the most favorable of Utah’s, Minnesota’s and Cleveland’s 2027 first-rounders in February’s Jaren Jackson Jr. deal, may effectively gain top-five protection on that asset if Utah remains the only one of the three clubs in the lottery next season.
The league intends to implement a new anti-tanking system beginning with the 2026-27 season, but the “3-2-1” structure could still be modified before the Board of Governors casts its vote.
Source: Hoops Rumors
