MINNEAPOLIS — Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd believes the NBA will make a “big change” to dissuade teams from intentionally losing to increase their chances of getting a better draft pick.
Kidd, a Hall of Fame point guard who played in three NBA Finals and is in his fifth season coaching the Mavericks, acknowledged Friday that anti-tanking measures are being discussed at the league level.
“I think we will look at putting in some rule or something will change,” Kidd said. “We are in discussions with that right now. At some point, the NBA will come out. And understand there probably will be a big change. It’s in discussion right now.”
Saturday, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said “every possible remedy” was on the board to curtail tanking. Four days later, word spread that Silver discussed a litany of potential new rules, including limiting first-round pick protections and prohibiting teams from picking in the top four in consecutive years. One NBA league source who was on the call described it as a collaborative discussion where executives pitched anti-tanking solutions of their own.
The NBA has already fined multiple teams this season for “management of their rosters.” On Feb. 12, the Utah Jazz were ordered to pay a $500,000 fine after they did not play two of their best players, Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., in the fourth quarter of two consecutive games. The Indiana Pacers were also fined $100,000 for violating the NBA player participation policy. An independent physician concluded that Pacers forward Pascal Siakam could have suited up in a Feb. 3 game he was held out of against the Jazz.
Kidd, who added that only a few teams are trying to tank, made sure to note that there is a difference between teams intentionally trying to lose and teams that are losing because of injuries.
“Understanding that word ‘tanking,’ it’s sometimes misused,” Kidd said. “Sometimes teams aren’t trying to tank. Sometimes teams don’t have enough firepower to win. A serious injury to a star player can pivot a franchise. That happens.”
The Mavericks were missing several key players in Friday’s 122-111 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, their 10th straight defeat. Cooper Flagg was sidelined for a second consecutive game with a left foot sprain. Shooting guard Max Christie was out with a left ankle sprain. And Kyrie Irving remained out with the torn left ACL injury he suffered in March.
Irving has yet to play this season and won’t be back on the floor until the 2026-27 campaign, the Mavericks said Wednesday. Dallas has struggled mightily on offense without Irving, a nine-time All-Star, and could use its first-round pick in the upcoming draft to find another ballhandler who can play alongside Flagg.
The Mavericks moved up in the draft lottery for the first time in franchise history in May. They landed the No. 1 pick on 1.8 percent odds, which allowed them to take Flagg, a Rookie of the Year hopeful.
Though the Mavericks control their own first-round pick in the upcoming draft, they owe their first-round pick to the Charlotte Hornets in 2027 unless it falls in the top two, meaning Dallas has every incentive to try to win in 2026-27.
In 2023, the NBA fined the Mavericks $750,000 for “conduct detrimental to the league” after Dallas sat several key players and played then-Mavericks guard Luka Dončić for only 13 minutes in a loss to the Chicago Bulls, which eliminated Dallas from postseason contention.
At the time, the Mavericks owed a top-10-protected first-round pick to the New York Knicks. They hung on to the pick and used it to acquire Dereck Lively II, who played significant minutes for the Mavericks as they made a run to the NBA Finals the following season.