As the NBA nears a final plan to return to play in Orlando this summer, the most pressing matter is how many teams are involved and what the structure of the remainder of the season will be. It appears the league is one step closer on that front as of Wednesday, as Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reported the most likely scenario would be a fully postseason, in addition to a competition for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs.
Throughout conference calls with owners and players this week, NBA commissioner Adam Silver is leading many to “become increasingly skeptical of the league bringing back all 30 teams to complete the season,” according to the ESPN report. Weeks ago, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters his team was operating as if their season was over, so this would lead to the same conclusion.
According to ESPN, the most likely plan would leave the East playoff seeding as is, but incorporate Nos. 9-12 in the West standings in a “playoffs-plus” format that would likely include a play-in tournament for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. This comes after Damian Lillard publicly said he would not be interested in playing out the year if there was no chance his Trail Blazers could make the postseason.
Players will need to begin congregating either in their home markets or in Florida in the next week or two if this plan goes forward, so the NBA is likely to cement the finer points of the 2019-20 Orlando basketball extravaganza in the coming days.