With the NBA’s Board of Governors expected to meet on Thursday to vote on Commissioner Adam Silver’s proposed return-to-play scenario, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that the commissioner’s proposal — which is viewed as a slam dunk to be adopted — will include 22 teams.
Leading up to this point, there were believed to be at least three different scenarios for the league. One would have featured the league’s top 16 teams advance directly to a playoff tournament with another featuring all 30 of the league’s teams resuming competition.
The proposal which is forthcoming, according to the report, will be a compromise: 22 teams.
The 22 teams will include the top 16 teams plus the teams that are within five games of the eighth seed in each conference. Those six teams are: the Wizards from the Eastern Conference and the Pelicans, Spurs, Kings, Trail Blazers and Suns from the Western Conference.
The NBA’s 22-team format at Orlando’s Disney World would bring the 16 teams currently in a playoff spot, six additional teams, and include a play-in tournament for the eighth seed, sources said… If the ninth seed is more than four games behind the eighth seed, the eighth seed earns the playoff spot; if the ninth seed is four or fewer games behind, then the eighth and ninth seed will enter a play-in tournament that is double-elimination for the eighth seed…
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski provided some additional insight in a Wednesday report, as well, stating that the return-to-play proposal would feature each of the 22 teams playing eight regular-season games.
Obviously, since only 22 teams will be returning to play, the eight contests will be played against one of the other 21 teams competing. It is believed that the purpose of the eight regular-season games will be to give players an opportunity to work themselves back into game shape while also giving teams outside of the top eight in each conference the opportunity to qualify for the playoffs.
So the NBA's inviting 22 teams to Orlando: 13 Western Conference, 9 Eastern Conference. Eight-regular season games per team. Play-in for the 8th seeds. July 31-October 12. Vote tomorrow to ratify.
The NBA's back.— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 3, 2020
Charania’s report also states that, after the completion of the eight-game schedule, any teams that are within four games of the eighth seed would compete in what is believed to be a round-robin play-in tournament to determine the right to advance to the playoffs. Under that scenario, the eighth-seeded team would need to be defeated twice to lose their right to advance.
The plan hasn’t been approved by the league’s Board of Governors just yet, but that is widely expected to happen on Thursday, with the aim being to have the season resume on July 31.
In the words of Wojnarowski, although not official yet, the NBA is back.