The NBA has been on a mission in recent months to eradicate tanking. It took a major step forward in that regard Thursday by passing the most drastic reform to its draft lottery since it introduced the weighted lottery in 1990.Ironically, this new system might help the Sixers, who were the main impetus for the previous odds-flattening in 2019.Under the current system, the three teams with the league's worst records all had a 14% chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick and a 52.1% chance of snagging a top-four pick. The odds for the remaining 11 teams decreased gradually from there. The lottery determined the first four picks in the draft, while the rest of the draft order went in reverse order of the standings.That's all out the window under this new system. Now, the lottery is being expanded to 16 teams—including the loser of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in tournament game in each conference—and all 16 picks will be drawn via lottery. The teams with the three worst records now have worse odds of winning the No. 1 overall pick than the other non-play-in teams, while the No. 9 and No. 10 seeds in each conference will have the same odds as those with the three worst records. The teams with the three worst records can't fall lower than the No. 12 pick, while every other team can fall as low as No. 16.The NBA Board of Governors today approved a new NBA Draft Lottery system designed to eliminate incentives for teams to prioritize their position in the Draft over winning games.Full release: https://t.co/I42k5HeUV0Additional information regarding the new system, including the… pic.twitter.com/o1QItNPIit— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 28, 2026Got all that? No? The TL;DR version: The new system is awful for the worst few teams in the league, but it's better for almost everyone else. That bodes well for the Sixers, who control most of their own first-round picks moving forward, along with a fully unprotected 2028 first-round pick from the Los Angeles Clippers and swap rights in 2029 as long as the Clippers don't land in the top three.How lottery reform could help the SixersWith Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe in the fold, the Sixers aren't likely to finish with a bottom-three record for the foreseeable future, even if Joel Embiid and Paul George continue to miss significant time. After all, the Sixers won 45 games this past season despite getting a combined 75 games from Embiid and George.Lottery reform lowers the draft floor for every team in the bottom 16, but it also raises the ceiling for almost every team aside from the worst few. The team with the 10th-worst record will have the same odds as the team with the fourth-worst record—24% chance at a top-three pick, 39% chance at a top-five pick and 73% chance at a top-10 pick. Under the current system, they have a 13.9% chance at a top-four pick, no chance of landing between Nos. 5-9, a 65.9% chance of No. 10, a 19.0% chance of No. 11 and a 1.2% chance of No. 12.There's rarely a huge difference between, say, the late lottery and mid-first round. A handful of gems can always be found in that range—Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Jalen Williams, Devin Booker and Kawhi Leonard, to name a few—but every team in the league would forfeit a few spots in that range for a higher-percentage chance of landing much higher in the lottery.If the Sixers do miss the playoffs or lose in the play-in tournament in the next few years, they'll be rewarded with a complete wild card in the draft. That might put their own 2028 first-round pick back in play, too. They owe it to the Brooklyn Nets if it lands outside of the top eight, but if they miss the playoffs that year, they might now have a far greater chance of having it land in the protected range.Their own picks aren't the only wild cards that they hold. The Sixers also have the Clippers' fully unprotected 2028 pick and 2029 swap rights, both of which are arguably more valuable because of this change.Sixers' new trade options?Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported that "according to some estimates in calculation," first-round picks now "might be seen as twice as valuable as they previously were." Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic added that "team executives have predicted that first-round picks would be harder to trade under the new rules, as the 3-2-1 format gives teams higher up in the standings a better chance to land not just a high draft choice but the No. 1 pick."Unlike the Memphis Grizzlies, who are getting royally screwed by one of the many changes to the system, the Clippers are not affected by the same provision. The league is now prohibiting the same team from landing top-five picks in three straight drafts. The Grizzlies acquired the Utah Jazz's 2027 first-rounder in the Jaren Jackson Jr. trade in February, three months before the Jazz landed in the top five for the second straight year. The Jazz are now prohibited from having a top-five pick in 2027. As a result, the Grizzlies have zero chance of getting a top-five pick from the Jazz in 2027. If the Jazz do land a top-five pick in the lottery, they'll automatically slide down to No. 6 or below (the first open slot). The Clippers have the No. 5 pick in the 2026 draft, but it's courtesy of the Indiana Pacers from the Ivica Zubac trade. The Clippers sent their own first-rounder (No. 12) to the Oklahoma City Thunder as the final payment from the Paul George trade. So, even if they land in the top five next year, they could still owe as high as the No. 1 pick to the Sixers in 2028.The only concern would be if the Clippers win the No. 1 pick in 2027. Teams now can't win the No. 1 pick in back-to-back years. If one did win the lottery for the second straight time, it would presumably drop to No. 2 and the league would redraw for the No. 1 pick.The bottom line is that picks in 2027, 2028 and 2029 appear to have gained significant value, while picks in 2030 and beyond might be untouchable with these lottery changes only approved for three seasons.One general manager told Fischer "unequivocally" that he was "not trading any picks beyond 2029" with that long-term uncertainty in mind.If the Sixers are truly interested in moving off George and/or Embiid to expedite their transition into the Maxey-Edgecombe era, their picks gaining value should only help their cause. Other teams' reluctance to deal picks could be their gain, provided that they're willing to live with the downside of the new odds as well. (If they wound up trading a top-five pick, they'd get universally roasted.)There was already a case that running it back with George and Embiid made the most sense rather than burning assets to dump either one. If they're able to break George's contract up without attaching picks, all the better. Otherwise, they should wait the market out instead of being first movers to see how teams value picks in trade talks under this new system.Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X and Bluesky for the latest news.Unless otherwise noted, all stats via NBA.com, PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball Reference. All salary information via Spotrac and salary-cap information via RealGM.Follow Bryan on Bluesky.Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow