The NBA is reportedly considering a radical change to the playoffs that would include a play-in tournament

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February 22, 2018 7:17 PM

The NBA is seriously considering a playoff overhaul to have a tournament to determine the bottom seeds in the NBA playoffs.

The NBA is seriously considering a play-in tournament for the last seeds in the playoffs.
However, there are still a lot of details to be sorted out and negotiations that must take place before this idea becomes a reality.
A play-in tournament would ideally reduce tanking and make the last part of the NBA regular season more exciting.

A new report from NBA writer Zach Lowe indicates that the NBA is seriously considering a major change to its current playoff structure.

According to Lowe, the NBA is weighing the possibility of adding a play-in tournament to determine the lower seeds during the regular 16-team playoff bracket.

A playoff play-in is an idea that's been popularized by sports media personality Bill Simmons. But this is one of the first indications that the idea has gone from an NBA internet fever dream to a serious possibility within league circles.

In the big picture, this tournament is one of NBA's ideas for combating tanking, an issue that will only become more prominent as the league's regular season enters its home stretch. Such a tournament would, at least in theory, give teams in the middle of the lottery more reason to keep trying to win games as the season goes on, and also prevent teams from tanking out of the 7th or 8th seed and into the lottery.

For more details on what a potential play-in tournament would look like and what the talks around the league are like regarding the idea, check out Lowe's full report here.

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