As the NBA continues to toss around ideas of how to finish out the NBA season, the teams themselves offered their insight into how they hope the season will end. The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor reported on Thursday that, in the league-wide survey, teams were overwhelmingly against the World Cup-style format and in-favor of a play-in tournament.
“General managers were surveyed about a “playoffs-plus” format—either a play-in tournament between the bubble teams to determine the final seeds in the playoffs, or a World Cup–style group stage, which would replace the end of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs with a round-robin format. About 75 percent of teams voted in favor of a play-in tournament, sources said, while 25 percent of teams voted in favor of the group stage.”
Regardless of how the season comes to an end, it appears the conclusion will include the New Orleans Pelicans. The four teams just outside of the Western Conference playoffs along with the likes of the Memphis Grizzlies and potentially an Eastern Conference foe or two could figure into this play-in tournament.
It also remains to be seen what the rest of the teams not featured in the play-in games would do during the tournament itself. While those bottom teams will be playing impactful games, the rest of the league will be sitting by idly. Those teams could simply play exhibition games against one another in the meantime but it would be games of far lower intensity.
However it plays out, it seems the league is eyeing a 20-team format to finish out the year which could creating some exciting storylines.
