The 2019-20 NBA season appears be another step closer towards a much-awaited return. Earlier today, reports surfaced that the league and team executives are about to reach an agreement to resume the season on July 31st (August 1st in Manila time).
Here’s Adrian Wojnarowski breaking the news:
The NBA is planning a Thursday vote of the Board of Governors — with an expectation that owners will approve Adam Silver’s recommendation on a format to re-start the season in Orlando, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 29, 2020
In addition to the encouraging news are the reported discussions on a couple of modified playoff formats. The four scenarios range from the most traditional to the relatively complex, but whichever it may be, it should be well-received by basketball-hungry fans. The important thing is that the plan is constantly shaping up, and we can already taste that sweet and intense playoff atmosphere.
Sources: The NBA discussed four competition scenarios for restart with Board of Governors today:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 29, 2020
– 16 teams: Directly to playoffs
– 20: Group/stage play
– 22: Games to determine seeding, play-in tournament for final seed(s)
– 30: 72-game regular season, with play-in tourney
Let’s take a quick peek at each format:
30 teams
Ideally, this is how it should go. Have all the teams return, play extra regular season games to mold the playoff seedings, and then proceed to the postseason as normal.
But of course, nothing is currently ideal in our world as we are in very tough circumstances. While it adds to having the strange season have the feel of a standard season, all of the lottery-bound teams are unlikely to give this scenario a go, considering that they’re risking health for nothing.
16 teams
The 16-team format might have the most balance out of all the current choices. Along with rewarding teams who currently have a playoff record and rightfully jumping straight into postseason play, which lessens number of games, thus minimizing the health risks, it also presents other interesting options.
As we’ve mentioned in one of our previous pieces, should a 16-team playoff push through, the league will entertain implementing a 1-16 seeding that allows a ton of new playoff match-ups. In turn, it will address the long-proposed format that solely reward teams who have the top 16 records, as opposed to a per conference ranking.
If the NBA returned with playoff teams seeded 1-16, this is what the matchups would be ???? pic.twitter.com/hbNmTKEw4M
— ESPN (@espn) May 27, 2020
20 teams or 22 teams
The 20 or 22-team tournament style could be the more complex options. In this scenario, either four or six in-the-hunt teams will be added into the pool of 16 squads who are currently ranked as a playoff team.
Under the World Cup-derived, 20-team format, teams will be grouped systematically and play a round-robin to determine who the final playoff contenders would be and how the bracket would look like – it’s more complicated than that but it assures that the seedings reward everyone fairly, particularly the top-tier teams.
With a 22-team set-up, meanwhile, a play-in tournament will be held between the bottom eight teams. It includes the no. 8 in each conference (Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic), and the six teams who are within six games of a playoff spot (New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, and Washington Wizards).