The NBA Board of Governors met earlier this week to discuss some potential rule changes for the upcoming season and beyond. Most notably, the Board unanimously agreed on changing the current playoff structure by eliminating the guaranteed top four seed given to division winners. With the new rule, the eight best teams in each conference will be seeded in order of their regular season records. Winning the division is still important, however, as it will be the second tiebreaker for teams with identical records after their head-to-head match-ups. The previous division-winner rule came into play last season as the Portland Trail Blazers received the fourth seed despite having a worse record than the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs. That led directly to a way-too-soon first round playoff series between the Spurs and Los Angeles Clippers.
The second notable news out of the meeting is nothing new at all. Despite many calls for lottery reform for the past few seasons, the NBA elite have decided to retain the current format “indefinitely.” That means that there will still be a strong incentive for tanking for certain teams (looking at you Sixers.) While many have been quick to point out the flaws in the lottery system, no one has yet been able to devise a foolproof solution. Commissioner Adam Silver has also stated that the NBA wants to be “deliberate” in any changes they make due to the impending television deal and the money that it will bring in for the league. So for now, the NBA will wait and see how the influx of money (and the corresponding rise in salary cap and luxury tax levels) will affect player movement and parity in the league before deciding on whether a change is necessary.
