NBA officials used a Thursday conference call with reporters to explain the reasoning behind the league's newly approved "3-2-1" draft lottery reform, addressing why investigation and financial penalties proved insufficient tools to deter widespread tanking during the 2025-26 season.

James Jones, the league's executive vice president of basketball operations, said the subjective nature of tanking investigations made enforcement nearly impossible.

"Having done a lot of these investigations and inquiries with teams, when you get to the place of investigating your way to an outcome, it's really hard to say that it's just not coaching error, bad player performance or some underlying basketball thing," said Jones. "It's all subjective. We want to be in a place where no matter the outcome of the game, you don't feel like you're better off if you lose. You can't punish your way to that."

Jones added that financial penalties carried little deterrent weight given the value of top lottery picks.

"The value of these picks and players is exponential. If it's a $10 million fine, is it worth it to just take the fine?" said Jones.

Byron Spruell, the NBA's president of league operations, framed the urgency plainly.

"We had to do something, and do something strong," Spruell said.

On the decision to tie pick restrictions to the pick rather than the team, executive vice president Evan Wasch said a team-based system invited manipulation.

"Teams could theoretically agree to trade right after the draft, skirting the restriction that way, or trade in advance to avoid the restriction and extract value some other way," said Wasch.

Adam Silver received expanded enforcement powers under the new rules, though officials described that provision as a fail-safe against unforeseen behavior rather than the primary mechanism for reform.