2026 NBA draft thread

[Scott41theMavs]

So the NBA Board of Governors is voting on a series of rule changes to "stop tanking" which will take place at their May meeting and go into effect for ***this year's*** draft and free agency. As long as it doesn't affect the lottery and this year's draft order, fine. Otherwise, if I were Dumont and his bosses, I would be looking into suing the league out of existence if they are going to tamper with this draft order with post facto rules and destroy the Mavs' future for the next 5-10 years.

Seriously, if this garbage does adversely affect the Mavs' draft position for this draft in any way, I might be done the with NBA for a long time to come. You can't penalize teams for actions taken when the rules were different; that's BS.

[cow]

So the NBA Board of Governors is voting on a series of rule changes to "stop tanking" which will take place at their May meeting and go into effect for ***this year's*** draft and free agency. As long as it doesn't affect the lottery and this year's draft order, fine. Otherwise, if I were Dumont and his bosses, I would be looking into suing the league out of existence if they are going to tamper with this draft order with post facto rules and destroy the Mavs' future for the next 5-10 years.

Seriously, if this garbage does adversely affect the Mavs' draft position for this draft in any way, I might be done the with NBA for a long time to come. You can't penalize teams for actions taken when the rules were different; that's BS.

I'd be curious to see the rules.

In the Mavs favor, with how they've handled their rotations, it feels more like they are just a bad team losing than a team trying to lose.  Ethical tanking as opposed to what Utah and the like are doing.

[F Gump]

So the NBA Board of Governors is voting on a series of rule changes to "stop tanking" which will take place at their May meeting and go into effect for ***this year's*** draft and free agency .

Yes the NBA BoG is meeting on the issue. Yep apparently Silver is adamant on making changes. 

But afaik the idea it will impact the 2026 draft is not accurate. (And since the proposed rules have yet to be hammered out, not sure anyone could say for sure what those rules might be. Silver can demand, but if the Govs don't agree, what he wants doesn't happen.)

From what little is out there, the only current year applicability MIGHT BE a "consecutive year" limit on what pick you can land, ie what draft slot you get this year would impact your next year's draft order possibilities.

[Scott41theMavs]

Yes the NBA BoG is meeting on the issue. Yep apparently Silver is adamant on making changes. 

But afaik the idea it will impact the 2026 draft is not accurate. (And since the proposed rules have yet to be hammered out, not sure anyone could say for sure what those rules might be. Silver can demand, but if the Govs don't agree, what he wants doesn't happen.)

From what little is out there, the only current year applicability MIGHT BE a "consecutive year" limit on what pick you can land, ie what draft slot you get this year would impact your next year's draft order possibilities.

...namely, it would prevent the Mavs from drafting Dybantsa getting the number one pick. Not okay with that. At all.

[michaeltex]

NBA tanking


David Aldridge reports on X:

AAdam Silver, on tanking: "we are going to fix it. Full stop."  Says there will be a special Board of Governors meeting in May to vote on proposed changes, so that they are in place before the NBA draft in June. 

Don't see how they can apply it retroactively to this year's performances. Too much value tied up in traded picks and pick swaps to do anything drastic.

Now if they wanted to give equal odds to the top 5 or 6 instead of just the top 3, then maybe that would work. But they'd have to do it before the lottery was set. Doing something just before the draft doesn't address the issues.

[cow]

...namely, it would prevent the Mavs from drafting Dybantsa getting the number one pick. Not okay with that. At all.

The draft Gods hate us so we'll probably end up picking at 10 anyway.

[F Gump]

...namely, it would prevent the Mavs from drafting Dybantsa getting the number one pick. Not okay with that. At all.

No. As rumored - No impact on the 2026 draft. The limits (whatever they are) don't begin until 2027 draft.

E.g., it would allow the Mavs to get the 1st pick in 2026 and use it --  but then they would be prevented from getting pick 1 in 2027.

Aldridge's note ("Adam Silver, on tanking: "we are going to fix it. Full stop." Says there will be a special Board of Governors meeting in May to vote on proposed changes, so that they are in place before the NBA draft in June") is about the timing of having a rule. It doesn't say this draft itself will be altered at all. The idea would be that as teams are trading FUTURE picks (2027 and further) around draft time, they get some clarity on how those picks might work.

MY PERSONAL OPINION. When Silver says "We are going to fix it. Full stop", imo he is full of BS. As with EVERY PRIOR TIME THEY "FIXED" TANKING, this won't work either, because you are demanding that teams not work in their on best interest. Teams will find out the sweet spot to accomplish what they feel is important. The best they can do is put limits on how many years in a row the same team can pick in the top __. Get it over with, and move along.

EDITED TO ADD THIS LIST of potential changes. Any, all, or none of these may actually become rules, but these are where they seem to be starting the conversation.
•First-round picks can be protected only top-4 or top-14+
•Lottery odds freeze at the trade deadline or a later date
•No longer allowing a team to pick top 4 in consecutive years and/or after consecutive bottom-3 finishes
•Teams can’t pick top-4 the year after making conference finals
•Lottery odds allocated based on two-year records
•Lottery extended to include all play-in teams
•Flatten odds for all lottery teams

[F Gump]

The draft hate us so we'll probably end up picking at 10 anyway.

I vote for a top 4 pick. Just get picked in those 4 draws. All the theoretical dropping down doesn't matter once you get selected.

[cow]

I vote for a top 4 pick. Just get picked in those 4 draws. All the theoretical dropping down doesn't matter once you get selected.

I just hope the pick is obvious where ever that picks lands for the sake of our ramshackle front office.

[Winter]

•Lottery odds freeze at the trade deadline or a later date

That one seems funny to me. In that scenario, teams that are really bad just start tanking before the trade deadline. You just move the bar.

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

If anti-tanking measures were to go into effect the Jazz should absolutely be the test case. The lineup they're subjecting paying customers to watch "play" against the Wizards is pathetic. It's beyond G-League. It is them thumbing their nose at anything competitive.

I'm not into conspiracies when it comes to the Lottery. In fact, when people talked about Dallas getting Cooper, I could point out about 1,536,218 examples of how the Mavs went out of their way to NOT tank last season. So if the Jazz somehow move up in the Draft and are rewarded for, more than any other team, killing the NBA's on-court product, then I NEVER want to hear another "RIIIIGGED!!!!!!!" again.

[Mavs03]

The Jazz with an all-time pathetic performance against the hapless Washington Wizards essentially cementing themselves at the #5 slot. Expect the Grizzlies to end the season on a 14 game losing streak. They have a G-league roster currently. The Mavs need to oblige as well and end the season on a similar 14 game losing streak.

[Scott41theMavs]

Even in the midst of this ethical tank, the Mavs only have 2 turnovers going into the 4th.

[DanSchwartzgan]

Even in the midst of this ethical tank, the Mavs only have 2 turnovers going into the 4th.

It's been an entertaining game...especially if you don't care about D.

[Scott41theMavs]

9 games left. The Chicago game will be the hardest to tank, and we'll have some leeway if the Grizz miraculously win a game. Milwaukee a distant second - we'll be on the second night of a back to back. Orlando, Portland, and the Clippers will also be challenges, and perhaps Phoenix. The Lakers, Spurs, and Wolves will gladly kick our butts for us.

[michaeltex]

That one seems funny to me. In that scenario, teams that are really bad just start tanking before the trade deadline. You just move the bar.

This would have penalized DAL last year because the injuries to AD and Kyrie both occurred AFTER the ASB. The team had been playing without Luka for a while, but were still competitive with Kyrie. DLive was out with no return date and Gafford had just sprained his MCL going into the break. There was even some talk of having to forfeit due to not having enough players.

Silver also said that he doesn't agree that teams in the middle are in the worst place, but most think that is purgatory. 

Anything they try to do is going to affect the value of already committed pick trades and swaps. I think it's going to come down to an owner's fight between the haves and have nots. I honestly don't know what top teams like OKC or SAN are going to do with highly successful rosters and a lot of incoming draft picks they have no slots for. But re-distributing the hoarded picks somehow might help with everyone tanking so hard.

I also don't know how adding two more teams helps the situation either.

[numnuts23]

You want to fix tanking - here's a crazy idea. Relegation, just like they do in soccer. You finish bottom 2-3 in consecutive years, you move down to the G-League.

Yes, I understand there is no logical way for that to happen but it would end teams trying to lose on purpose.

[myconsumerclub]

Whatever happens we got 3 guys this year and it is a deep draft that we should do well in with 3 picks. There is no excuse not to get 3 really good players who all can play for us in the top 10 players who get used.

Lively being the question mark he is we need to make one of the 3 picks a center and my choice is to snag Krivas out of the bunch. He can be had with our 2nd pick and then we can probably find a wing who shoots 40% or better from 3 with 50. Veesaar is another great shooting 7'0 C/F I might want to take with that 2nd pick. Imagine if all 3 guys we draft can hit 40% or better on 3's. Kyrie and Cooper added in and that is a team to develop. Lively either stays healthy from now on and we are okay or if not and he cant then we are still okay but we need to sever ties if that happens we cannot afford to pay someone to sit on the bench.

I want to keep Bagley, he is over 40% from 3 and that is keeper level game plus he is also a Duke alumni so since it looks like we are stocking up on those guys. I just hope we can afford to keep him in free agency. He gives us a center that can also play at PF and stretch the defense.

The 2 recent signings for Tyler and John also look like they may be better threats from long distance than some of our guys and they give us better shooting.

I'd expect Cooper to be a lot better on his 3's next season but Naji is still shooting bricks a lot from 3 so I hate to say it he needs to be better next season or adios. I am already wondering what we can get in trade since Luka mentioned he wants him.

PJ is somewhat of an undersized PF if you ask me he is best suited at SF which is were we may need to play Cooper some if the team adds a PF that is Dirk lite or better and to be honest I think Bagley is strong enough to use there as well but of course Cooper is the star and you play him where he can do the most good.

Our talent pool gives us the opportunity to trade for someone else and using PJ as a trade asset is looking like the path I would explore given his issues he has with his 3 pointers and so we need to see who has more value to other teams either Naji or PJ. PJ is supposed to play bad ass defense but it just has not been strong enough and with Cooper being a great defender we need to use him on the other teams best player. PJ is looking like he is 2nd team next season and ditto w Naji. One of the 2 could be gone before the season starts. I think Naji has the better upside if he can develop a 3 but that was the case last year as well. PJ had some issues with his 3 this year but he seems to have gotten past them. He is also the better defender for bigs since he is taller but Naji is more of a threat around the rim. I am not for trading them just to trade them I am just saying that we need to see what we can get. Someone wants to over pay then we can decide at that time.

[Chicagojk]

I don’t see Luka. I don’t think there is much to compare them.

Not a direct comparison but best case comparison is Kon for me. Good size, great shooter, plays angles, smart player. Different positions and play a litttle different but that is my best comparison for Wagner.

https://www.reddit.com/r/NBA_Draft/s/uemEjjdvMe

[Winter]

One of the things I really like about a Mavericks\Wagler link-up is the feeling that Kyrie-Flagg-Wagler feels like a more useful combination of players than something like Kyrie-Flagg-Acuff. Acuff is a great offensive player, but without the ball in his hands a lineup with Acuff feels a little empty.

This may not be much an issue now if Acuff gets drafted by Utah, but a GM and a coach need to be in a conversation if both players are available when the Mavs pick.