Tanking has been a problem in the NBA… pretty much forever. But it’s never been worse nor more discussed than it is right now. At least half a dozen franchises have effectively waved the white flag by resting top guys either in crunch time or all the time. It’s easy to blame the Wizards, Pacers, Jazz, Bucks, etc. for not fielding their best lineup, but the reality is that they’re just optimizing outcomes against a set of perverse incentives established by the league.

There has to be a better way, right? 

Well there is- it’s called the Gold Plan (named for its originator, Adam Gold, all the way back in 2012.) The basic idea is that teams get points for every game they win after being eliminated from playoff contention. Weaker teams still have a better shot at securing a top draft pick (since they typically play more games after being eliminated) but they have to earn their spot by winning, at least occasionally. And, notably, teams who make the play-in game or are eliminated in their last regular season game can’t get anywhere near a top-5 pick, so this sort of thing can’t happen:

Is the Gold Plan perfect? Of course not. Few plans are! Here’s a terrific NHL-focused piece by Sean McIndoe on some of the Gold Plan’s flaws, with solid counterarguments against all of them.

The NBA’s tanking challenge is both different and worse than the NHL’s, since resting guys isn’t really a thing in the NHL, but there’s an easy solve for that! If an NBA player misses, say, 20 or more games while a team is still mathematically alive, they become ineligible to return post-elimination. 

But the question shouldn’t be whether the Gold Plan is perfect. The question should be whether it’s fairer and more fan-friendly than  the deeply flawed status quo?

And the answer is: Of course it is. Of course it is! How fun would it be to track the Gold Plan standings for the last few weeks of the season? For the worst teams to really care about being spoilers? For teams to know that they’re 1-2 Wins away from a guaranteed Top-5 pick?

Here’s what the 2025 Draft order would have looked like if the NBA had used the Gold Plan instead of ping-pong balls:

Cooper Flagg is in Brooklyn. The Jazz, 76ers, and Hornets are all deservedly punished for going a combined 3-33 down the stretch instead of each ending up with Top-5 picks. And the play-in teams can’t get anywhere near the top spot. How’s that not better?