A modest proposal to fix the NBA’s schedule dilemma

The league’s idea

The NBA has been working in the background to alleviate these issues. Last week, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Zach Lowe and Jonathan Givony reported the league office is working with teams to add elements that would spice up the half-year drag of the regular season, including:

• A play-in tournament among the seventh- through 10th-place teams in each conference, where No. 7 would host hosts No. 8 for the seventh seed in each conference, the ninth- and 10th-place teams would play for the right to face the loser of 7-8 game, with the winner of that third game earns the No. 8 seed;
• An in-season tournament involving all 30 teams, similar to ones in European soccer leagues, where the winning team would be compensated significantly;
• The conference finalists being re-seeded according to record and without regard to conference to allow for the NBA Finals to be between the best two teams instead of the best team from each conference;
• A small cut in everyone’s schedule, with most teams playing 78 or so games and maxing out at 83, depending on tournament success.

These modifications would begin in the 2021-22 season to commemorate the league’s 75th go-around.

The timing of the in-season tournament faces a lot of barriers. The initial proposal would have had the final rounds lead into the All-Star Game, but that received push back from the National Basketball Players’ Association due to its conflict with the break. Another idea, having it lead into Christmas, could compromise revenue streams if the tournament finalists aren’t from big markets.

The period that the NBA and NBPA are “finding common ground on,” per Lowe, Givony and Wojnarowski, is the few weeks after Thanksgiving and before Christmas. Since everyone is given off for Turkey day, it’s feasible to start tournament games on Black Friday and have them go for the next two or so weeks.

The final rounds can be several days before Christmas, giving teams rest before the holiday slate.

Reseeding of the conference finals is a step in the right direction; ideally the playoffs would be seeded with the top 16 teams regardless of conference. As many have cited, that change would be a direct reaction to the Rockets and Warriors squaring off a round before the NBA Finals in 2019. It would allow a greater probability the Finals are truly between the top two.

The decrease in mandatory regular-season games from 82 to 78 or so would be alleviated by increased revenue from the tournament games and such, but many around the league are skeptical. Understandably so; sacrificing two home games a year is a big financial loss for teams.

Commissioner Adam Silver is optimistic and he’s been progressive with a lot of rule changes since stepping into this role. But these are some drastic changes with myriad issues.

First off, 78 regular-season games is barely a cut from the current schedule. Some teams would still reportedly reach 82 (possibly even 83), meaning we’ll likely be facing the same problems as before.

Per that same report, the in-season cup would start with a round robin within each division (two home and two away games for each team). Then the winners of each pool would advance, with two wild card teams earning the seventh and eighth spots in the knockout round. All these games would count towards teams’ regular-season records.

The tournament champion would be rewarded in a manner still to be determined, but the idea is reportedly financial as of now.

Having a round robin and knockout rounds is fine, but the incentive has to be bigger than money. Not only would that type of reward require salary cap amendments (which require collective bargaining agreement modifications), but the financial prize would also need to be substantial.

Not even the All-Star Game payout ($50,000 per player for winning team, $25K for losers) gets players to try.

Exceeding that prize doesn’t sound difficult, but no one knows how profitable this will be at first. The league could even suffer a loss in the first few years; Silver will need to make a very strong argument if money is all they’re playing for.

As for the play-in tournament, it’s a fun idea that would certainly make the league more money. Single elimination games always spike intrigue; Major League Baseball’s addition of a Wild Card Game in each league has worked wonders for fan interest. But like the idea of re-seeding the conference finals, this is only a small step in the right direction.

The NBA is doing the right things by trying to address a problem before it gets drastic. But it could go even further.