Regular season NBA Basketball reminds me of youth rec league basketball. Everyone plays equally. Some players don't show up. Defense is optional. So I decided to solve all these issues using a modified promotion/relegation system.
Break the season into 2 (Liga MX does this). Play 42 games in the normal East/West conferences. The best 15 get promoted to the 1st Division for the last 42 games. These 15 teams compete for 10 playoff spots. The bottom 15 teams play in the 2nd Division. Teams who finish 1 and 2 in the 2nd Division enter the regular NBA Playoffs as the 11 and 12 seeds. If they dont advance, they enter a single-elimination 8 team 2nd Division Tournament where those 8 teams compete for draft selection. You pick in the order you finish.
I think this puts a greater emphasis on guys not sitting and competing, especially in those first 42 games because you have to finish in the Top 15 to move into the 1st Division. Then, in the last 42 games, you start at 0-0 so you don't have any built-up cushion. Guys have to play and play hard. In a nutshell, this makes many more regular season NBA games meaningful. Even a matchup between the 11th and 12th place teams from the 2nd Division has meaning because both coaches/owners want to finish in the Top 8 so they can make the single-elimination tournament so they can draft a Cooper Flagg or a Wemby.
Break the season into 2 (Liga MX does this). Play 42 games in the normal East/West conferences. The best 15 get promoted to the 1st Division for the last 42 games. These 15 teams compete for 10 playoff spots. The bottom 15 teams play in the 2nd Division. Teams who finish 1 and 2 in the 2nd Division enter the regular NBA Playoffs as the 11 and 12 seeds. If they dont advance, they enter a single-elimination 8 team 2nd Division Tournament where those 8 teams compete for draft selection. You pick in the order you finish.
I think this puts a greater emphasis on guys not sitting and competing, especially in those first 42 games because you have to finish in the Top 15 to move into the 1st Division. Then, in the last 42 games, you start at 0-0 so you don't have any built-up cushion. Guys have to play and play hard. In a nutshell, this makes many more regular season NBA games meaningful. Even a matchup between the 11th and 12th place teams from the 2nd Division has meaning because both coaches/owners want to finish in the Top 8 so they can make the single-elimination tournament so they can draft a Cooper Flagg or a Wemby.
