The 2019-20 NBA season is slowly inching its way back to resume the season. The latest developments have reported that July 31st (August 1st in Manila) is the target return date, and that the games may go into a modified playoff format.

Included in the proposed scenarios is a set of round-robin games that will determine who will take the final playoff spots, which meant that some of the teams that are currently out of the playoff picture still have a shot.

While it sounds a great scheme that will give in-the-hunt teams a fighting chance, there’s a growing belief that the plan has an underlying agenda for the New Orleans Pelicans, particularly for their sensational rookie, Zion Williamson.

Here’s ESPN analyst Brian Windhorst sharing some of the murmurs around the league:

“One of the things I’ve been hearing as I’ve talked to people in the league is, the league is gonna set up this playoff plan to make sure Zion Williamson is involved. … Paranoia is at the top of the list with anything in the NBA … They’re always paranoid about everything — ‘the league is screwing me, and they’re helping that guy.’ In this case, there’s a number of different reasons why the league would want to have 20 or 24 teams, a number of different reasons to get extra games. But most of those scenarios include having Zion Williamson in the postseason.”

So, aside from being a fun and explosive team, which sounds miniscule anyway when you consider the crazy situation the league is in, what could possibly be the reason to try and push Zion and the Pels into the playoffs?

Well… money.

The NBA’s revenue has been gutted by unexpected events this season. As openly admitted by NBA commissioner Adam Silver back in February, the league is expecting to lose “several hundred million dollars” worth of sponsorships and other revenues after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey drew the ire of the Chinese government through a tweet.

Then, of course, there’s the COVID-19 hiatus, which is now entering its third month and will extend into a couple more. All of the halted TV deals have cancelled millions of profit.

How can a 19-year-old rookie be an aid?

It’s simple. Zion Williamson is one of the hottest young ballers today, and he’s must-see TV. He proved that and more during his highly-anticipated debut in January, both with how he lived up to the hype and how his presence spiked up the broadcast numbers.

Per Adam Zagoria of Forbes:

“The Spurs-Pelicans game on Wednesday night drew an average of 2.357 million viewers to the ESPN telecast, with a peak viewership of 2.777 million. Those numbers are up 88 percent from the comparable game a year ago, according to ESPN PR. The game had a U.S. household rating of 1.6, which is tied for ESPN’s highest-rated NBA game this season outside of the Christmas day slate.”

It’s pretty rare for a rookie to have that impact. With the wave of monetary problems that the league is facing, the league is probably thinking that Zion is worth a gamble.

But, of course, despite having an ounce of reason, it still sounds, looks, and feels like a silly conspiracy theory for the most part. The NBA’s list of international superstars is pretty long with or without Zion Williamson. The impending playoffs is guaranteed to have LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, James Harden, and Luka Doncic on deck, and that’s just to name a few.

Are we to believe that Silver and his guys are doubting the starpower of their proven moneymaking machines?