MO12msu wrote:The NBA was already letting over 50% of its participants into the playoffs, much more than the MLB or NFL. I don't think it's a big deal or "unfair" to the 7 and 8 seeds that they have to not lose 2 games in a row in order to hold their spots.
It's hard to buy any argument that this change hasn't done exactly what the NBA wanted. This Pelicans-Warroirs game on ESPN actually has some playoff implications now and the Wizards are being rewarded with a playoff chance for making a late season run instead of mailing it in. You have 4-12 East and 5-11 in the West all having to worry about the play in some way.
I like Zach Lowe's idea that the #1 seed should get to pick their matchup out of the 2 teams that make it out of the play-in. Would reward the 1 seed so they don't end up stuck with a randomly bad matchup and gives a little more incentive for actually trying during the regular season.
the 1st seed is usually mainly rewarded by avoiding top 2-3 seeds until the conference finals, like the east 1st seed race this year
getting the 7th seed instead of 8th in first rounds shouldnt be a huge deal most years, specially because they can also get a even easier 9th or 10th seed instead too
somethingh i would add is including 7th and 8th seeds in the lottery, dissuades tanking even more as 4-6 seeds are not gonna tank into the play in for slim lottery odds and 7-11 seed teams will have a bit less of a incentive to tank
