NBA Board of Regents passes tanking, resting rules

A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that the NBA Board of Regents would vote on a pair of rules aimed to curb the issues of tanking and resting. With 23 of 30 votes required to pass the rules, neither were expected to face enough resistance not to pass, and sure enough that was the case.

The tanking rule passed with a 28-1-1 vote, with the Thunder reportedly voting "no”, while the Mavericks abstained. With the new rules, the lottery has been expanded to the top four picks instead of three, and the three worst teams will all have an equal 14 percent chance at winning the number 1 pick. As a result, the chance at winning the lottery for all 14 non-playoff teams has improved significantly compared to before. Here is a chart on the new lottery odds thanks to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

The resting reform also passed easily. Commissioner Adam Silver now has the power to fine teams for resting multiple healthy starters on the same night, on the road, and/or during nationally televised games, especially now that the league believes it has done its part to improve the schedule and remove incentive for coaches to rest players at inopportune times.

It is unclear how much these measures will actually help these trends, especially the tanking one. There is still incentive for fringe teams without much of a future not to make the playoffs if nothing except nearly assured embarrassment and a first round exit awaits them.

If nothing else, hopefully the rules go hand-in-hand, and instead of focusing primarily on contenders and star players when it comes to resting, the league will also take note of lottery-bound teams who rest their starters down the stretch to improve their draft pick as the anti-rest Phoenix Suns chose to do last season with Eric Bledsoe, Tyson Chandler, and others.

What do you think of these new measures, Spurs fans? Will either have the effect that is intended?