While the NBA and its Commissioner, Adam Silver , have, according to many, successfully solved, or at least are on the right track to solving, the problem of the All-Star Game, there is also one issue that concerns everyone around the Association: tanking.
With the way the current system is set up, it oftentimes makes more sense for teams near the bottom of the standings to lean even harder into losing games on purpose to improve their draft stock. It has come to a point where it is a glaring issue for the integrity of the league and, ultimately, the final product on the floor. And Silver does not like it one bit.
Less than a week ago, the Commissioner informed the league's 30 general managers that the NBA plans to implement anti-tanking rule changes for next season. He did not go soft.
In the aftermath, insider Shams Charania reported that some of the topics discussed included: first-round picks being protected only top-4 or top-14+, lottery odds freezing at the trade deadline or later, no longer allowing a team to pick top-4 in consecutive years or after consecutive bottom-3 finishes, teams being unable to pick top-4 the year after making the conference finals, lottery odds allocated based on two-year records, extending the lottery to include all play-in teams, and flattening the odds for all lottery teams.
https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania
Clearly, the league office is aware that something has to change. However, media personalities and players across the NBA also offered their own takes on this elephant in the room. One of them was Charles Barkley , who proposed monetary punishments for teams that are purposely worse than they actually are. And it is safe to say that Draymond Green , never shy about voicing his opinion off the court, agrees with that approach the most.
"And I also like Charles Barkley's idea that you can't raise ticket prices if you are below .500. Because why are you raising ticket prices? It's kinda like, high tide lifts all boats…" the Dubs enforcer argued in the latest episode of "The Draymond Green Show."
These kinds of financial consequences would make owners think twice about the potential tanking process. No matter how good a draft class is coming, just like the loaded 2026 one, the cost of deliberately putting out a losing product could become too high. And as Green noted, with the popularity of the league ballooning over the last couple of years, it sometimes feels like the bad teams are just free-riding their way to more money because the NBA brand as a whole keeps growing.
Draymond used the example he knows best. The Golden State Warriors and their superstar, Stephen Curry , generate noise wherever they are visiting for the night. In response, opposing teams bump up ticket prices to see "Chef" in action. That is the business side of it. But with Barkley's proposal in place, franchises under .500 would not be able to simply capitalize on that wave while not delivering a competitive product themselves.
"Well, NBA teams take advantage of that and they just raise the ticket prices because they are an NBA team. I agree with Charles Barkley's idea. You shouldn't be able to raise prices, and it should also cost you in your other areas… Maybe you need to drop your concession stands. Make it affordable! Because you are a trash team with these fans coming to watch you play, but then, let's make this more affordable, you are a value team," Green added.
While tanking has always been seen as a legitimate way to secure the future by landing a generational player in a stacked draft, it can just as quickly backfire with one wrong decision and send a franchise back to square one. Radical changes are expected, even though nothing is set in stone just yet.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Feb 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
