We are yet to know what the NBA will decide to resume the 2019/20 season. After the coronavirus outbreak and after Rudy Gobert tested positive for the COVID-19, the league suspended the season and we’ve seen plenty of rumors about when and how the front office will say we’re good to go with the return of the campaign.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst offered an update of what could be the plans of the league for the restart of the season. He said on ‘Get Up!’ that there is a “good chance” that the league will use a 16-team format for the playoffs, regardless of the conferences.
“I really think there’s a good chance this is only going to be a 16-team playoff. If that is the case, it opens up the possibility for something that Adam Silver has long wanted, which is to seed 1 through 16 in the postseason and go that route. There’s no excuse with travel or anything like that.
“It would have to pass an owner vote, and that means a bunch of Eastern Conference owners would have to agree to it. But if there’s a way to make this interesting and spice this up and potentially test out this theory, you’re never going to get a better opportunity if that’s the direction they go.”
Seeing the records of the teams when the regular season was suspended, a 16-team playoff would look like this:
(1) Milwaukee Bucks vs. (16) Orlando Magic
(8) Miami Heat vs. (9) Oklahoma City Thunder
(4) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (13) Dallas Mavericks
(5) Boston Celtics vs. (12) Philadelphia 76ers
(3) Toronto Raptors vs. (14) Memphis Grizzlies
(6) Denver Nuggets vs. (11) Indiana Pacers
(7) Utah Jazz vs. (10) Houston Rockets
(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (15) Brooklyn Nets
If (IF IF IF) the NBA went 1-16 seeds for playoffs, here are the current matchups:
1 Bucks vs 16 Magic
2 Lakers vs 15 Nets
3 Raptors vs 14 Grizzlies
4 Clippers vs 13 Mavericks
5 Celtics vs 12 76ers
6 Nuggets vs 11 Pacers
7 Jazz vs 10 Rockets
8 Heat vs 9 Thunder
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 25, 2020
It remains to be seen if this is the actual plan of the league and if the owners agree to it. At this point, it looks like the best option to restart the season. They have things to figure out before making a final decision, but it seems like things are falling into place for us to see some NBA action this year again.
