Anti-tanking passed nearly unanimously, but the Memphis Grizzlies were the lone holdouts.
The new rules are proposed to get the NBA’s teams to be more competitive – to stop sitting their top players in an attempt to have a worse record and better chances at landing a top draft pick.
The Grizzlies voted against the new “3-2-1” anti-tanking proposal due to the provision prohibiting teams from securing top-five draft picks in three straight seasons, per ESPN.
When the Grizzlies finally gave up on Jaren Jackson Jr.’s pairing with Ja Morant as playoff contenders earlier this year, they moved their star center in a trade that netted them three first-round picks.
They will receive the highest pick first-round among the Jazz, Cavaliers and Timberwolves next season, with Utah being the weakest link of the trio this past season.
Utah will No. 2 overall in the 2026 NBA Draft and also selected Ace Bailey No. 5 overall last season.
After acquiring Jackson, it’s possible the Jazz are a solid team for the first time in nearly a decade, but the Grizzlies acquired that 2027 pick with the hopes that it lands in the top five.
If Utah does have a bottom-five record, due to the new rules their pick would be executed as the sixth overall pick in the draft, despite the Grizzlies owning it.
The Grizzlies have had a tough go of it over the past few years, as Morant has dealt with off-court issues, including a suspension, and they’ve fallen apart in two of the last three seasons.
Memphis ended the season with a 25-57 record, though they played well the year before, finishing 48-34.
Their 2023-24 record was a disappointing 27-55.
There is also a chance that the Grizzlies opt to uproot their franchise by trading Morant and attempting to tank for a better draft pick next season, though the new lottery odds make this significantly less likely.
The worst three records in the NBA previously had a 14 percent chance of the top draft pick, which has been reduced to 5.4 percent with the new rules taking effect immediately.
The fourth- to 10th-best records will have an 8.1 percent chance to land the top pick.
The Grizzlies had even caught some strays from LeBron James, who said that his least favorite place to play was Memphis, an opinion that has been talked about around league circles for years.
Memphis had the worst attendance in the NBA last season.
