Adam Silver Gains Unprecedented Power: $10 Million Fines and Draft Manipulation to Stop Tanking

Commissioner Adam Silver gets the vote to have enough power to stop teams from intentionally tanking.

Adam Silver Gains Unprecedented Power: $10 Million Fines and Draft Manipulation to Stop Tanking

Adam Silver will have power over tanking teams (Image via FirstSportz)

In Short
  • Adam Silver has gained unprecedented authority to impose fines up to $10 million and manipulate draft picks to combat tanking in the NBA.
  • New anti-tanking draft reforms were approved, reducing lottery odds for teams with the worst records while favoring those competing for playoff spots.
  • These measures aim to enhance competition and could potentially eliminate tanking as early as the 2026-27 season.

It is common for commissioners of major sports leagues to attract criticism, particularly when their respective sport is deemed to be losing its appeal. Adam Silver has been courting a lot of that backlash over the NBA’s affinity for a more offense-focused game and tanking.

The former has almost been resolved after the Boston Celtics were bumped out of the first round of this year’s Eastern Conference playoffs.

For a team that made headlines for its tendency to depend on the three-ball more than any other form of scoring, their exit was enough proof that once opponents adjust, it does not work.

It is not as if teams are not jacking up threes at will, but the dependency has reduced, and the game’s flow has improved compared to when the Celtics won the 2024 title.

He has been coy about the flopping and foul-baiting utilized by the Oklahoma City Thunder. But Silver has revealed that the league will use AI to help officials make better decisions.

When it comes to tanking, the past two regular seasons were the worst when it comes to intentional effort on the part of teams to drop games in the hope of landing a better draft pick. Now, that is about to change.

With this vote, the board of governors has now given Adam Silver increased disciplinary authority to implement a wide range of actions depending on tanking violations moving forward. Fines up to $10 million, he can take draft picks away. He can also have teams forfiet picks, he can change picks.

Shams Charania revealed

The ESPN insider revealed that after getting an almost unanimous vote, Adam Silver now has the power to dictate drafts in the future.

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Adam Silver’s new NBA Draft lottery penalizes bottom three teams

Adam Silver now has the power to penalize a tanking team, as he may deem fit. On top of that, he and the board of governors agreed to a new Draft lottery that will make it more difficult for those at the bottom of the league.

Teams with a bottom-three record — the relegation area — have only two lottery balls. Teams that do not qualify for the playoffs or play-in tournament in spots four through 10 receive three lottery balls each. The Nos. 9 and 10 play-in seeds in each conference receive two lottery balls each, and the losers of the 7-8 play-in games receive one lottery ball each.

Shams Charania revealed

This means that the odds for a bottom-three team to land a top lottery pick are now worse than teams fighting for a play-in or a playoff spot.

Essentially, the league is now forcing teams to compete, instead of depending on draft picks. More importantly, this new format will not allow a bottom-ranker to win two No 1 overall picks or three consecutive top-five picks.

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Adam Silver’s new measures could stop tanking as soon as next season

With these new measures in place, the odds for the bottom sixteen teams are now flatter than ever. Adam Silver has made sure no one team can boost their odds in the ways they were before.

Utah Jazz allegedly threw games this past season
Utah Jazz allegedly threw games this past season (Image via BallislifeX)

It is not as if teams will not try to find ways to illegally get a better chance at landing a top pick. But these new rules will definitely make it harder. The league may not have tried to pinch where it hurts, that is, revenue, but this is bold enough.

In fact, these measures could stop tanking as early as next season. For a while, teams like the Utah Jazz and Brooklyn Nets have been tanking intentionally. Even the Indiana Pacers were caught doing it this season.

They received a modest fine, which is why the league pushed for bigger fines starting next season. Along with Adam Silver’s newfound powers, where he can change odds or forfeit picks, it seems the 2026-27 season is about to be more competitive than it has been in recent times.

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