The NBA doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel with restart

The NBA is looking at a number of ways to restart its season, which will hopefully take place later this summer. Now more than ever, keeping it simple matters.

The NBA is finding its way along in the most trying of times. After suspending its season due to the coronavirus pandemic in the middle of March, the wheels are finally in motion to get the 2019-20 campaign back in gear.

There are plenty of ideas on how to do that, and every one of them is interesting and has some merit. From a FIFA World Cup-style 20-team group stage restart to a more standard 16-team playoff (removing conferences!), there’s a lot to like about each of the best ideas.

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

As far as the NBA is concerned, everything is going to be different when action resumes, so why not take advantage of the chaos and try some new things out? As the All-Star Game and its Elim Ending proved, experimentation can pay off in big ways when things are done right.

However, even though this might be the only chance the league gets to try out some major wholesale changes, this isn’t the time to re-invent the wheel when it comes to the playoffs.

While a 20-team group stage would get mega-draws like Zion Williamson and his New Orleans Pelicans into the mix, and would appease Damian Lillard to such a degree where he’d be happy to play along with his own Portland Trail Blazers, it would also add more volatility. Adding four more teams and the traveling parties that come with them may have a negative effect on the quarantine bubble and the health and safety of the whole enterprise.

The NBA has a vested interest in building up its marketability and recouping as much money as it can after this long, unplanned layoff, and Williamson would certainly help. However, we’re in a world where sports bettors are gambling on simulated games, daily fantasy players are wagering on League of Legends and Call of Duty games, and a non-zero percentage of North American sports fans are staying up to watch Korean baseball games.

As the only game in town (and a mid-to-late July restart could get them back in action before the NHL at least, if not MLB as well), all eyes will be on the NBA. They won’t need a handful more games out of Zion to get an abundance of attention.

There may indeed come a time when the league will adopt some kind of a group stage or a play-in tournament, as outside-of-the-box thinking is something commissioner Adam Silver has quickly become known for. When so much is riding on the successful re-launch of the NBA season, though, the league needs to keep the involvement of teams and parties to the absolute minimum.