As the NBA continues to discuss ways to conclude the regular season and playoffs, the latest potential proposal on Tuesday was one of the most intriguing and unique ideas yet. The league has been experimenting with ideas that would allow bubble playoff teams a chance at the postseason while also minimizing the amount of meaningless games.
The proposal on Tuesday was a World Cup-style format with group play leading to knockout rounds and best-of-seven series to follow. Teams would be separated into tiers based on records and the amount of teams included varied between 16 and 30. The most commonly discussed format, though, included 20 teams with five tiers, leading to four groups of five teams apiece.
In this scenario, the Pelicans would be one of the final teams to earn a spot in the group. Based solely on record, the tiers would be as followed:
Tier 1 – Bucks, Lakers, Raptors, Clippers
Tier 2 – Heat, Jazz, Nuggets, Celtics
Tier 3 – Thunder, Rockets, Pacers, Sixers
Tier 4 – Magic, Nets, Grizzlies, Mavericks
Tier 5 – Blazers, Pelicans, Kings, Spurs
From that point, there would be multiple ways to sort the teams. In the world cup, players in each tier are drawn randomly into groups. That often leads to unbalanced pairings and, as commonly known, a group of death with one group heavy on talented sides.
Given the Pelicans situation of adding Zion Williamson and making a late run once at full strength, any group of death would likely include them. Similar arguments would likely be made for the Sixers and Pacers as well as the Clippers, who have been without Paul George often this season. If Kyrie Irving and/or Kevin Durant return for the Nets, they too could be included. A group of death could look something like the Clippers from Tier 1, any side other than the Jazz from Tier 2, the Pacers or Sixers from Tier 3, the Nets from Tier 4 and the Pelicans from Tier 5.
Another potential grouping scenario would be to simply do it based on records within each tier. In that scenario, the Pelicans would be in a group with the Lakers, Jazz, Rockets and Nets. New Orleans’ games against Los Angeles have been well-documented even if the Lakers swept the series. The Pelicans have also had memorable meetings with the Jazz this season as well. The Rockets would present an interesting match-up given their small-ball play style. The Nets would be a wild card depending on the health and availability of Irving and Durant.
Given the circumstances surrounding the season, it’s almost certain that an abnormal conclusion to the is in the cards. But given how close the Pelicans are to the traditional playoff picture, they will almost certainly find themselves in the mix no matter what the final verdict is.