The Chicago Bulls would see a clearer path to the No. 1 pick in the draft if the NBA adopts an anti-tanking idea that would make only teams that win 27 or more games eligible to win the lottery.
The stipulation, as conceived by league insider Marc Stein, would prevent teams from blatantly losing on purpose. It would go a step further than fining teams for "resting" players, as the league just did to the Utah Jazz and Indiana Pacers.
With this rule in place, the NBA's serial tankers would have an incentive to win at least sometimes. That would make the league more competitive, interesting, and, frankly, make the last few weeks watchable.
Adam Silver made it clear that change is coming, whether it means a small adjustment, a reimagining or dumping the lottery altogether.
Stein's rule would immediately benefit Chicago, a franchise that, at least until a few weeks ago, refused to tank but also had no real avenue to get better -- unless it tanked.
Anti-tanking tweaks would be a massive boost for the Bulls
Chicago has won 39, 39, and 40 games each of the past three seasons, respectively. The team has 24 victories this year with 26 contests left to play.
As of the All-Star break, the Bulls sit 10th in the lottery standings with a 3.0 percent chance to land the No. 1 pick and a 13.9 percent chance to finish with a top-four selection.
Stein's suggestion is a reasonable one. As the sports scribe argues, reaching 27 victories would mean a team won one-third of its games -- not an impossible task. Teams that miss the playoffs but don't reach the 27-win mark would wind up at the bottom of the lottery.
Should this rule ever come to fruition, this year's odds would look dramatically different, and in a way that favors Chicago.
Seven teams have yet to reach 20 wins this season. The Memphis Grizzlies have exactly 20. There's a chance none of those squads make it to 27. In this scenario, that would push those eight franchises to the back of the lottery.
The worst three teams by record have an equal 14.0 percent chance of winning the first overall pick, according to the current rules. If the standings as of Feb. 18 hold, that would mean the Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs (via Atlanta) would have the best odds at landing the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
It's unfortunate these changes aren't coming now; Bulls fans could use some good news. But hey, the Dallas Mavericks had the 10th-best odds of landing the top pick last season, and they ended up with Cooper Flagg ... there's always a chance, right?