Adrian Wojnaworski’s ‘Woj Bombs’ isn’t just for blockbuster trades and free agent signings. The senior NBA insider has just tweeted a big revelation about the league’s plans on its impending return.

After basically zeroing in on July 31st as the return date (August 1 in Manila) and ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida as the venue, it is now reported that the league office and team executives have also agreed on proceeding with a 22-team return, which may extend the season up to October 12. The two parties will be meeting again this Friday to cast votes that will make the return plan official.

In a separate report over the weekend, one owner was quoted in his optimism about the return despite certain disagreements on the proposed playoff and play-in scenarios:

“We are lining up behind [Silver] on this … The posturing will end. Nothing is going to be perfect for everyone.”

The 22-team format will include the top eight teams from each conference (14 of which are guaranteed to be in the playoffs) and the top six that were still closely fighting for a playoff sport prior to the COVID-19 suspension. The additions will be the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, Phoenix Suns, and Washington Wizards – all are at least within six games out of the playoff picture in their respective conferences.

It’s still unclear how the bracket will look like, but it seems like there will be a play-in tournament to determine the final seeds for each side, which will put the said in-the-hunt teams with the current no. 8 seeds: Orlando Magic (East) and Memphis Grizzlies (West).

Here’s a sample bracket that I have in mind:

The eight teams will be seeded according to their record, but as a reward for being in the playoff picture, the Grizzlies and Magic will be rewarded by having the top two spots, respectively, and only needing one win to advance out of the first round.

1st round:

SIDE 1

#1 Grizzlies vs #8 Suns (single elimination for the Grizzlies, double elimination for the Suns)

#4 Pelicans vs #5 Kings (single elimination for both teams)

—

SIDE 2

#2 Magic vs #7 Wizards (single elimination for the Magic, double elimination for the Wizards)

#3 Blazers vs #6 Spurs (single elimination for both teams)

2nd round:

SIDE 1

Winner between #1 and #8 (single elimination for both teams)

vs.

Winner between #4 and #5 (single elimination for both teams)

—

SIDE 2

Winner between #2 and #7 (single elimination for both teams)

vs.

Winner between #3 and #6 (single elimination for both teams)

The two surviving teams from each side will then be awarded with the final playoff spots and join the other 14. Since it’s mostly single elimination, an interesting aspect will be the likelihood of upsets and more intense play, similar to March Madness and the NFL Playoffs.

As for the seeding on the 16 teams, it may be sorted 1-16 and not 1-8 per conference since the number of East and West teams aren’t balanced – among the 22, 13 are from the West and only nine are from the East.

Things will definitely look strange regardless of the format, but with no major sporting action for three months, we should just be pumped for anything.