Mark Cuban Predicts Big Change Is Coming To NBA After Lottery Shift
Former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban believes a big change is coming to the NBA following the lottery change.
The NBA is set to make drastic changes to the lottery rules.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver is pushing a change that will essentially punish the league's three worst teams. The teams who finish No. 4 to No. 10 will have the best odds at the top pick - though all their odds will be the same. In total, the lottery would expand from 14 to 16 teams.
The full changes can be seen below:
In the wake of the NBA Lottery changes, former Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban predicts a big change is coming.
The change: An "explosion" in trades.
Cuban's prediction for NBA changes
Cuban outlined his projection on social media.
"When you flatten the odds, the number of trades will explode. It was impossible to know who would win the tankathon in the off season, and the leading tankers aren't trading their picks at the deadline BUT you can have a good idea who isn't a top 8 team in your conference. And teams will do everything they can to trade for their firsts. Get 2 non playoff firsts in a draft, and you have a good shot of having better odds than the bottom 3 this year. And even 2 picks at 5.4 pct each, makes you the equal of a tankathon 4 or 5 team. The question is what puts you in a position to trade for 1sts?" he wrote.
"I think the games to stay out of the bottom 3 will be fun. I think the protection limits are smart. Don't want teams in the playin making decisions on draft vs win. But teams still have to figure out how to win and now, grabbing as many picks as possible, is the highest value approach Once you know you have the little c next to your team … can't make the bottom 3, if it's before the deadline, you can get aggressive If you don't have a team you like, you make any trade that gets you a first."
It'll be interesting to see, that's for sure.
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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 7:51 PM.