The NBA is trying to fix tanking, but Mark Cuban believes the league is solving the wrong problem. As Adam Silver pushes new anti-tanking proposals to the Board of Governors, the former Dallas Mavericks majority owner fired back, arguing the system itself is what created the issue in the first place.

“The real question is – what options are available to build a winning team that has a chance to win a championship? The issue isn’t draft odds. In today’s system the worst 3 records have about an 86 pct chance of not getting the top pick,” Cuban tweeted. He added that even landing a top pick isn’t a guarantee, as truly generational draft classes like 1984 or 2003 remain rare exceptions.

“A team can do all it can to have the worst record, and if the draft is awful, they did nothing to impact their chances of turning around their team. Every team knows this,” Cuban continued. “Where teams get the most flexibility with rebuilds is from collecting draft picks. Once you realize the team you built isn’t good enough or your best players don’t want to stay, you trade your best players (see OKC/Clippers, Celtics/Nets, and others in recent years).”

Once a team stockpiles picks but lacks star talent, the next step is maintaining cap flexibility. Teams do this by signing cheaper players or short-term, movable contracts that can be flipped later. Those deals help meet the salary floor while also allowing teams to absorb unwanted contracts in exchange for even more draft picks.

“Those contracts are more trade-able to collect bad last year contracts that come with attached picks,” Cuban pointed out. “And of course retaining cap room. Look at the teams that started the season with the most cap room, those that created the most cap room during the season, and those chasing the top pick. If they didn’t already trade the pick, they match pretty closely.” That overlap, according to Cuban, is no coincidence.

“That’s all because of the economics of the NBA. A good player on a rookie contract is the most valuable asset in the NBA. A franchise player on a rookie deal is the holy grail,” Cuban said. That reality drives teams to stockpile draft picks, hoping one turns into a cornerstone. While those players remain on cheap deals, teams can then use cap space and trade assets to build a contender around them.

“Bottom line, accumulating draft picks is the best path to building a contender. Staying bad is less about winning the lottery than it is about doing all you can to accumulate those picks.” That brings up the real question: what can the NBA actually do to curb tanking?

Cuban believes there are solutions, but they require structural change. He outlined a few ideas, including limiting how many first-round picks teams can accumulate, restricting playoff eligibility for high-salary buyout players, capping how long teams can use cap space without improving, and revisiting older CBA trade rules to tighten roster-building loopholes.

He also acknowledged the difficulty of implementing those changes, noting they would require player approval. Cuban added that unpredictable trades can still change everything, referencing how rare moves like the Dirk Nowitzki deal can reshape a franchise, but those moments are exceptions, not a strategy.

Mark Cuban’s 40-minute idea

Before his angry rant, Mark Cuban had another suggestion for Adam Silver to consider. “Make the games 40 minutes. 8 x 82 / 48 =13.667. That’s the equivalent number of games you would reduce the schedule by. Without breaking arena leases,” he said. Cuban added, “Works for college. Works for international. Works for the WNBA.”

He continued, “AND. If you looking at tv and streaming ratings, the less the actual playing time for a televised game, the bigger the ratings. Ie, the less time fans have to focus on a game, the more they enjoy watching it on tv.”

The NBA stands apart with 48-minute games, while leagues like FIBA, the Olympics, WNBA, and NCAA run on 40. That gap matters. Adam Silver reportedly supports four 10-minute quarters to fit a cleaner two-hour TV window. Do the math: a drop from 48 to 40 minutes cuts 16.7% of playtime. Across an 82-game season, that equals about 13.7 fewer games—nearly 14 games shaved off the grind.

However, broadcast length refuses to budge. ESPN games still stretch to 2 hours 16 minutes, unchanged for 15 seasons. So, trimming minutes won’t magically shorten airtime. Instead, it packs more action into the same window. That means sharper pacing, fewer lulls, and a better rhythm for viewers.

Meanwhile, the proof already exists. Olympic basketball thrives within two hours. College and WNBA games follow the same tempo. Even the 2026 All-Star tweak lifted ratings. The 2023 playoffs averaged 5.12 million viewers with a 2.7 rating. Yet early 2024 regular-season numbers dipped to 1.4 million, down 19%. Therefore, Mark Cuban pushes a clear idea: tighten the game, elevate the experience.

So now, Mark Cuban isn’t questioning teams. He’s exposing the system. He sees a league where chasing picks beats chasing wins, and where structure rewards patience over progress. Therefore, his fixes target the root, not the surface. However, change demands approval that few will give. So the dilemma stays. Until then, teams will keep playing the system better than the game.