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On Wednesday, the details of the plan the NBA will present to the Board of Governors on Thursday for restarting the 2019-20 season surfaced in a report by Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The NBA will reportedly unveil a 22-team format to resume the season at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. The 16 teams currently in the playoff picture and six additional teams within six games of eighth place in the two conferences will travel to Disney — Portland, New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio, Phoenix and Washington.
The 22 teams will each play eight regular-season games for seeding purposes for the NBA Playoffs. After the eight games, if the ninth seed is fewer than four games behind the eighth seed, the two teams will participate in a play-in tournament. If the eighth seed is more than four games ahead of the ninth seed, the eighth seed earns the playoff berth.
The NBA reportedly developed a plan to restart the season centered around Zion Williamson and the Pelicans included in the format. Williamson has emerged as one of the most popular players in the NBA this season as a rookie and would be highly marketable for the league should the Pelicans qualify for the postseason.
Of course, that will prove to be no easy feat. The Pelicans were 10th in the Western Conference at 28-36 when the season was suspended on March 11, 3.5 games back of the Grizzlies in eighth place.
The Pelicans project to have a tough schedule ahead after potentially facing several playoff teams. Additionally, the Pelicans would also be vying for playoff positioning with five other teams and, if they were to finish in ninth place, they would need to beat the eighth-placed team twice to earn the playoff berth, according to the reported plan.
Whether the Pelicans and Williamson make the playoffs or not, having the organization in contention over the final eight regular-season games will still create a dramatic conclusion to a tumultuous year.
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