NBA Weighs 3-2-1 Draft Lottery Plan; Second-Round Order Would Reverse First 16 Picks
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The NBA’s pending 3-2-1 draft lottery proposal would flip the order of the first 16 selections in the second round, according to reporting by Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.
If governors approve the measure, the lottery field would expand from 14 to 16 teams. The group would include the league’s 10 clubs that fail to reach the play-in tournament, the four teams that compete in the No. 9 vs. No. 10 play-in games, and the two teams that lose the No. 7 vs. No. 8 matchups.
Under the proposal, every one of the first 16 picks in the opening round would be determined by lottery draw, replacing the current system that only decides the top four positions. A bottom-three finish would still guarantee a team can fall no further than 12th, but the fourth-worst club could slide to No. 16. Should that happen, that same team would hold the 31st overall choice—first in the second round—because the order would be reversed for picks 31 through 46.
Today, second-round positioning is set strictly by regular-season record, regardless of where teams land in the first round or whether they reached the postseason. For instance, Brooklyn owns the No. 33 pick this year despite dropping to sixth in the lottery, and Portland will select 42nd while Charlotte sits at No. 45 even though the Trail Blazers made the playoffs and the Hornets did not.
By contrast, the suggested format would lock the same 16 lottery participants into the top half of the second round, merely in opposite order. Many of those future second-round selections have already been traded.
The Board of Governors is meeting this week and could vote on the 3-2-1 plan as early as Thursday. If adopted, the changes would take effect with the 2027 draft.
Source: Hoops Rumors
