NBA Commissioner Adam Silver: Tanking sanctions in the works |The edge of the blazer

Expect more anti-tank tweaks.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver speaks at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference

Big changes” are on the way to stop NBA teams from intentionally losing to increase their chances in the lottery.

Silver: Tank penalty is being executed

Look forward to more anti-tank fixes.

As The Athletic's Mike Vorkunov summarizes (subscription required), Silver suggested continuing gradual changes to keep the NBA playoffs competitive deep into the season:

"Not to predict exactly where we're going, but I think I'm an incrementalist," continued Silver.

Silver cited the WNBA as an example.The WNBA takes into account the records of non-playoff teams over the last two seasons and bases its lottery odds on them.

Silver addressed the "tension" between teams that are genuinely trying to win but are bad, and teams that cheat to lose more games:

"I think that's the tension, the legitimate recovery of a young team that's really trying to win games. They're working day and night to win. There are situations where your team was a lot at the end of the season ... where you want to see young players playing in a competitive environment and that win isn't as important. I don't think that's the kind of crisis we're going through right now. So the incentive period is over."

Silver also echoed the narrative in NBA podcasting circles: that this upcoming draft is stronger than usual, and that's why the drop was particularly unprecedented:

"It's like a perfect storm this season that you have a felt, very deep draft," Silver said."Again, I say feel because the scouts' predictions are wrong. But there's a sense that you have four players, maybe five, who are real game changers. You add to that an assumption that the draft the next two years isn't going to be as good, and you create a huge incentive for teams to compete, and let me add that to a top, basketball. Certain behavior."

Silver and the NBA fined the Utah Jazz last month for pulling several key players late in two games, and fined the Indiana Pacers (after an independent physical) for sitting players deemed fit to play.