NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday that the league plans to implement major changes to its draft lottery system with an eye toward curbing the practice of tanking.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are going to fix it,\u201d Silver said<\/a>. \u201cFull stop.”<\/p>\n During a press conference following the league\u2019s Board of Governors meetings in New York, Silver offered updates on a number of issues facing the league, including the decision to explore expansion to Seattle and Las Vegas<\/a>, the possibility of establishing a new league in Europe<\/a>, and the efficacy of the league\u2019s Player Participation Policy and the 65-game threshold for year-end awards eligibility<\/a>, among other matters.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say virtually everything we covered at the board meeting was very positive,\u201d Silver said. \u201cOne topic, not so positive. And that\u2019s ongoing tanking issues in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n The league\u2019s owners had \u201ca lengthy conversation about the issue,\u201d according to Silver, who acknowledged that franchises doing less than their level best to win \u2014 intentionally plunging to the bottom of the standings in hopes of improving their chances of landing higher draft picks \u2014 is nothing new. Concerns about teams purposely putting non-competitive teams on the floor in pursuit of potentially transformative talents have persisted for decades, helping lead to the introduction of the NBA Draft Lottery in 1985.<\/p>\n \u201cThat lottery has been modified four times since then,\u201d Silver noted. \u201cObviously, it does not seem to be operating optimally, where we are now.\u201d<\/p>\n