Adam Silver: NBA 'might move' on idea of top-16 teams making playoffs regardless of conference
Well, this could certainly shake things up:
News: Commish Adam Silver just told #Spurs broadcasters NBA "might move" on playoff format to go to top 16 teams, sted of 8 per conference
— Mike Monroe (@Monroe_SA) April 12, 2014
New commissioner Adam Silver has been very transparent about his willingness to consider new ideas and ways to improve the NBA product, and altering the playoff format appears to be one of the ideas he's considering.
Of course, this comes up because the Eastern Conference has at times looked laughably bad, while the West will have two very good teams, perhaps one with as many as 49 wins, miss the playoffs. Moving to a 16-team playoff format, where the best 16 records in the league get in instead of the best eight in each conference, wouldn't settle the imbalance between conferences but would at least make playoff berths more likely for teams in the tougher conference.
As an example, here's how the current playoff picture would change under the proposed change.
Current (eight from each conference)
| Rank | East | Record | Rank | West | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 54-25 | 1 | San Antonio | 62-18 |
| 2 | Indiana | 54-26 | 2 | Oklahoma City | 58-21 |
| 3 | Chicago | 47-32 | 3 | LA Clippers | 55-24 |
| 4 | Toronto | 46-33 | 4 | Houston | 52-27 |
| 5 | Brooklyn | 43-36 | 5 | Portland | 52-28 |
| 6 | Washington | 41-38 | 6 | Golden State | 49-30 |
| 7 | Charlotte | 40-39 | 7 | Dallas | 48-32 |
| 8 | Atlanta | 36-43 | 8 | Memphis | 47-32 |
| OUT | New York | 34-45 | OUT | Phoenix | 47-32 |
| OUT | Cleveland | 32-48 | OUT | Minnesota | 40-39 |
Proposed (16 total)
| Rank | Team | Conference | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Antonio | West | 62-18 |
| 2 | Oklahoma City | West | 58-21 |
| 3 | LA Clippers | West | 55-24 |
| 4 | Miami | East | 54-25 |
| 5 | Indiana | East | 54-26 |
| 6 | Houston | West | 52-27 |
| 7 | Portland | West | 52-28 |
| 8 | Golden State | West | 49-30 |
| 9 | Dallas | West | 48-32 |
| 10 | Chicago | East | 47-32 |
| 11 | Memphis | West | 47-32 |
| 12 | Phoenix | West | 47-32 |
| 13 | Toronto | East | 46-33 |
| 14 | Brooklyn | East | 43-36 |
| 15 | Washington | East | 41-38 |
| 16 | Charlotte | East | 40-39 |
| OUT | Minnesota | West | 40-39 |
| OUT | Atlanta | East | 36-43 |
| OUT | Denver | West | 35-44 |
| OUT | New York | East | 34-45 |
So, you can count Phoenix as one of the teams in favor of this.