NEW YORK — It’s the beginning of the end of the NBA draft as we know it.
At least for now.
On Tuesday, commissioner Adam Silver will announce the league’s latest draft class, which many consider to be the best in decades. It will also be the last one until at least 2029 under the league’s old rules, after an epic year of tanking led Silver to implement a new-look system to combat the practice.
The NBA’s “3-2-1” lottery system will go into effect next season and further flatten the lottery odds, and teams with the 4th- to 10th-worst records will have slightly higher odds at the No. 1 pick than the three worst, which is called “the relegation zone.” The system was approved by the league’s owners in May and will be in effect until before the 2030 draft, when it can be revisited.
The draft is one of the NBA’s busiest transaction periods, rivaling February’s trade deadline and July’s free agency. Will the league’s transactions look noticeably different on draft day in light of what’s coming?
