CLEVELAND--It's looking more and more likely the NBA will return to play this summer to finish the 2019-2020 NBA season most likely at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Disney World. What we don't know is how the season will finish. The NHL has announced they will play a 24 team Playoff once play resumes.
With the NBA possibly looking at a late July restart, there are a few options the NBA can look into. Personally, I am not a fan of bringing all 30 teams to Disney World to finish the regular season. For example, the Cavs are in last place in the Eastern Conference (11 games back of 8th place with 16 scheduled games to go).
The 16 team playoff would be ideal if the NBA wants to limit the amount of team personnel in Orlando. BTW, no 7th or 8th seed has ever won a NBA championship. However, I understand how it wouldn't be fair to teams like Portland and New Orleans who didn't get a chance to advance to the playoffs before the season abruptly ended two months ago. Meaningless regular season games won't cut it for star players like Damian Lillard.
So maybe the NHL is on to something with the 24 team playoff and the NBA should adopt it with a few modified changes.
Unlike the NHL, the top four teams in each conference should be locked in. The current top four teams in each conference:
East
1 Milwaukee Bucks (53-12)
2 Toronto Raptors (46-18)
3 Boston Celtics (43-21)
4 Miami Heat (41-24)
West
1 Los Angeles Lakers (49-14)
2 Los Angeles Clippers (44-20)
3 Denver Nuggets (43-22)
4 Utah Jazz (41-23)
The extra round would be the PLAY-IN round for teams 5-12 (Best of 5).
East
#5 Indiana Pacers vs #12 New York Knicks (Winner vs #1 Milwaukee)
#6 Philadelphia 76ers vs #11 Chicago Bulls (Winner vs #2 Toronto)
#7 Brooklyn Nets vs #10 Charlotte Hornets (Winner vs #3 Boston)
#8 Orlando Magic vs #9 Washington Wizards (Winner vs #4 Miami)
West
#5 Oklahoma City Thunder vs #12 San Antonio Spurs (Winner vs #1 LA Lakers)
#6 Houston Rockets vs #11 Sacramento Kings (Winner vs #2 LA Clippers)
#7 Dallas Mavericks vs #10 New Orleans Pelicans (Winner vs #3 Denver)
#8 Memphis Grizzlies vs #9 Portland Trail Blazers (Winner vs #4 Utah)
Disney World has announced reopening plans for July 11th so the NBA maybe closer to having a place to play.