NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is eyeing a July return-to-play proposal that will feature 22 teams convening in Orlando, FL at Disney World, and the draft lottery and combine taking place in August.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski suggest that there would be 13 Western Conference teams and nine from the Eastern Conference.
Sources: Joining the 16 current playoff teams in Orlando: New Orleans, Portland, Phoenix, Sacramento and San Antonio in the West and Washington in the East. If the 9th seed is more than 4 games behind the 8th, No. 8 makes playoffs; Fewer than 4 games, a play-in tournament.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 3, 2020
The top eight seeds in the West would be joined by Carmelo Anthony and Portland, Zion Williamson and New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio and Phoenix.
In the East, the only team joining the top eight would be Washington. The proposed plan would leave the Knicks, among others, on the outside looking in.
All 22 teams would play eight games to determine playoff seeding before the playoffs begins. Games will most likely resume on July 31.
Star power/TV ratings, I'm told, factored into 22-team format. This gives Zion/Pels at least a path to playoffs.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) June 3, 2020
"The Zion component is real," source said. Also real: @luka7doncic's 6.1M All-Star votes trailed only @KingJames 's 6.2M. No way Mavs were going to get screwed over.
The NBA suspended its season on March 11 after Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz became the first player in the league to test positive for the coronavirus.
