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NBA Commish Adam Silver open to playoff changes

  • ernest_t_bass
    NBA commissioner Adam Silver said he's open to revamping the current playoff structure by eliminating conference seeding and instead going with the league's 16 best teams.

    "Ultimately we want to see your best teams in the playoffs," Silver said while appearing on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area during Wednesday's Mavericks-Warriors game. "And there is an imbalance and a certain unfairness."

    The Western Conference has had a decided edge over the Eastern Conference for quite some time, especially this season with it having 10 of the league's best 16 records.

    Silver said he'd be willing to talk to the league's competition committee about a plan in which the six division winners would receive automatic berths and the remaining 10 playoff positions would be determined by overall record, regardless of conference affiliation.

    "I think that's the kind of proposal we need to look at. There are travel issues, of course, but in this day and age every team, of course, has their own plane, travels charter," Silver said. "... It's something I'm going to look at closely with the competition committee. A lot of owners have strong feelings on it, but I think it is an area where we need to make a change."

    Silver said he'd need input from the league's owners before proceeding with any such changes.

    Under the proposal, teams such as Charlotte (21-27) and Miami (21-28), which currently rank in the playoff-eligible top eight in the Eastern Conference, would be supplanted by New Orleans (26-23) and Oklahoma City (25-24) in the West in a changed qualifying structure.

    "I don't think the discussion should end there," Silver said of potential changes. "And as I've said, my first year I was studying a lot of these issues, and Year 2 is time to take action."
    http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/12287800/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-open-changes-playoff-structure?src=mobile&rand=ref~%7B%22ref%22%3A%22http%3A%2F%2Fwww.shaggybevo.com%2Fboard%2Fshowthread.php%2F155979-Adam-Silver-open-to-changing-playoff-structure%22%7D

    Not a bad idea, IMO.
  • thavoice
    I wouldnt be against it but I think if they would do such a team they would need to balance out the schedule with east vs west games. The best couple of teams in the East should have a decided advantage in playing the shitty teams much more often
  • Heretic
    I like it because it's just stupid that shit teams like Charlotte have a better shot of making the playoffs than teams with legit appeal like New Orleans.
  • BR1986FB
    Silver is also open to playing the lead in the remake of "Nosferatu."
  • sleeper
    I think it's a bad change. Realistically if makes no difference until you start seeing 5-8 seeds win on a regular basis. I mean has that every happened? I doubt it.
  • ernest_t_bass
    I think the NBA playoffs are too watered down, anyway.
  • sleeper
    And really, get rid of the lottery or at least balance it a little. Instead of throwing 14 teams in it just make the lottery for the 3 worst teams so teams can't tank to get the player of the century or get a specific player.
  • thavoice
    sleeper;1703827 wrote:I think it's a bad change. Realistically if makes no difference until you start seeing 5-8 seeds win on a regular basis. I mean has that every happened? I doubt it.
    Just a change of who gets the $$$. A couple of west teams will get the opp to host playoff games instead of the east. Not that it will change who wins, just who benefits in a few extra games.
  • sleeper
    thavoice;1703833 wrote:Just a change of who gets the $$$. A couple of west teams will get the opp to host playoff games instead of the east. Not that it will change who wins, just who benefits in a few extra games.
    Irrelevant in the long run and also wouldn't this just make it even more unbalanced? Now the Western teams are generating more money and can attract greater talent.
  • Commander of Awesome
    I would love the idea, but it will never happen. It hurts the bottom dollar. They want Nets, NYK to make the playoffs over a team like the Suns. $ talks. Not going to happen.
  • Laley23
    sleeper;1703831 wrote:And really, get rid of the lottery or at least balance it a little. Instead of throwing 14 teams in it just make the lottery for the 3 worst teams so teams can't tank to get the player of the century or get a specific player.
    Dont want teams tanking for players, so make it easier to get said players by tanking?

    /not following the logic at all.
  • sleeper
    Laley23;1703851 wrote:Dont want teams tanking for players, so make it easier to get said players by tanking?

    /not following the logic at all.
    The reality is tanking doesn't happen. If a coach tanks, or a GM tanks, the players aren't going to just be like "Okay, I will suck and throw games and put my career at jeopardy". I'd prefer to just get rid of the lottery altogether but at least adapt it so that the 10th ranked team isn't getting the #1 pick. It's really just a stupid system that doesn't help league balance.
  • Laley23
    Players never tank, nor does a coach.

    The tanking is done higher up within organization by fielding a team that has little to no shot of competing.
  • thavoice
    May sound stupid but I always wondered if this would work. I would have 5 teams in the lottery, maybe 7. Take the best winning %'s of the last ten games of the season to get the best chance.
  • sleeper
    Laley23;1703854 wrote:Players never tank, nor does a coach.

    The tanking is done higher up within organization by fielding a team that has little to no shot of competing.
    Nice conspiracy theory. Who cares if teams tank? If a team wants to burn an entire season to get a chance at a prospect who may or may not pan out then let them. It's really not a big deal and my suggestion of limiting the lottery takes away the "once in a lifetime player" idea that may make it worth it.
  • Laley23
    Being the worst team and having a 25% chance at the #1 pick is not better than being the worst team and having a 50% chance at the #1 pick (if you went 50/30/20). If you were MORE guaranteed to have the #1 pick by sucking, how exactly is that helping eliminate it??
  • Commander of Awesome
    Laley23;1703854 wrote:Players never tank, nor does a coach.

    The tanking is done higher up within organization by fielding a team that has little to no shot of competing.
    Tell that to Paul Pierce when Oden came out. LOL
  • like_that
    The owners would never agree to it. If you are an East owner why the fuck would you agree to that? If anything maybe the NBA can realign the conferences a bit.
  • like_that
    Commander of Awesome;1703868 wrote:Tell that to Paul Pierce when Oden came out. LOL
    +1, part of the reason why I hate pierce. Not that he tanked, but he acted like such a bitch that season he tanked. Then all of a sudden the celtics are handed a gift of a trade rape and paul pierce acts like a hard ass with KG around. I fucking hated those Celtics teams.
  • Laley23
    It's all cyclical. The East will be the better conference for a stretch. I could see the owners voting for it. Not sure how many are needed to pass, but I could see over 50% being for it.
  • HitsRus
    ernest_t_bass;1703829 wrote:I think the NBA playoffs are too watered down, anyway.
    This....no more than 10 teams needed..... Should be more like the NFL. The first round of the NBA playoffs is just a shakedown of its fan base.
  • Ironman92
    Laley23;1703877 wrote:It's all cyclical. The East will be the better conference for a stretch. I could see the owners voting for it. Not sure how many are needed to pass, but I could see over 50% being for it.
    This
  • sleeper
    Laley23;1703859 wrote:Being the worst team and having a 25% chance at the #1 pick is not better than being the worst team and having a 50% chance at the #1 pick (if you went 50/30/20). If you were MORE guaranteed to have the #1 pick by sucking, how exactly is that helping eliminate it??
    Each team in the top 3 has an equal chance of getting the pick. Again, I'm for eliminating the lottery all together but if you have to keep a lottery make it smaller.
  • Laley23
    sleeper;1703908 wrote:Each team in the top 3 has an equal chance of getting the pick. Again, I'm for eliminating the lottery all together but if you have to keep a lottery make it smaller.
    That would still be 33%. Which is more than what the worst team gets now (25%), and if you do it that way...now you are tanking for great odds of getting great odds. IE, 3 spots now available for teams who want to tank and all 3 get the same great odds of winning lottery.

    Im not against the lottery being altered, but what youre suggesting would make it more beneficial to teams who want to tank...which is what the whole altering is trying to eliminate.
  • Sonofanump
    like_that;1703870 wrote:If anything maybe the NBA can realign the conferences a bit.
    New Orleans looks weird in the west, but who are you going to switch them for? Milwaukee who is an hour and half bus ride from Chicago? If you move Minnesota to the east, no one really to move to the west. I've always wondered why sports leagues have 30 teams, 32 or 28 would work so much better for scheduling and playoffs. Expand back to Seattle and maybe LV or St. Louis.