The NBA is considering sweeping changes for the 2021-2022 season.
The league has sent its team a proposal that includes significant changes to the regular season calendar and playoff format. According to the Associated Press, the league is looking at implementing a 78-game regular season, a $1 million per player prize for an in-season tournament and a play-in tournament to decide the the seventh and eighth seeds in both conferences, giving the top-10 teams in each conference a chance to make the playoffs.
The league’s board of governors will likely make a decision on whether to go forward with the plan in April. If implemented, the changes would go in effect for the 2021-22 season on a trial basis, according to the Associated Press.
The proposed in-season tournament is reminiscent of the structure used in European soccer.
Teams would play eight divisional games during the group stage of the tournament, with those games also counting toward a team’s regular season schedule. The top eight teams in the group stage would enter the knockout round of the tournament. The group stage and knockout round would take place in November and December. Players on the winning team would split $15 million, while the winning coaching staff would split $1.5 million.
“I’m a traditionalist,” said Blazers coach Terry Stotts when asked about whether the NBA regular season format needed to be changed. “I like the 82 games, but also you got to keep up with the times. You got to be open to new ideas. Do I think it needs tweaking? I don’t know. I think there have been changes made from time to time in the league that have benefited the game. If it benefits the game and adds more interest, I think that’s a good thing.”
The NBA is still making tweaks to its proposal for the in-season tournament. The dates for the tournament remain tentative and the league is still looking at the potential for adding additional prize money for teams that reach the final four.
Stotts said that he wanted to reserve judgement on the proposed in-season tournament until all the details have been finalized.
“I think there are a lot of things to be worked out for it to work,” Stotts said. “I like the idea that the league is contemplating something new and fresh. Obviously, it’s taken from the European model and they have those tournaments and they work out well. So, we’ll see how it goes, but I think there are a lot of things that have to be worked out before I can say whether I like it or not.”
The proposal would also make significant changes to the league’s playoff format.
If the proposal goes into effect, the top six teams would automatically earn berths to the playoffs, while teams that finish between seventh and 10th in each conference would compete in a play-in tournament to try to qualify for the playoffs. The seventh- and eighth-place teams would match up in a knockout game with the winner earning the seventh seed in the conference. The loser of that game would take on the winner of a game between the ninth- and 10th-place teams. The winner of the game would earn the eighth place seed in the conference.
There would be no changes to the first two rounds of the playoffs. After the second round of the playoffs, the final four remaining teams would be reseeded based on their regular-season records, meaning that the NBA Finals would not necessarily pit teams from different conferences against each other.
-- Jamie Goldberg | jgoldberg@oregonian.com
503-853-3761 | @jamiebgoldberg
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https://www.oregonlive.com/blazers/2019/12/nba-sends-teams-proposal-for-78-game-regular-season-in-season-tournament-for-2021-22-season.html
2019-12-21 18:35:57Z
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