The Trail Blazers (51-31) got the No. 4 seed in last year’s Western Conference playoffs over the No. 5 seed Grizzlies (55-27) and No. 6 seed Spurs (55-27), because Portland won its division.
NBA commissioner expects that format to change soon.
Tim Bontemps of the New York Post:
Silver says competition committee discussed playoff seeding, recommendation is should seed 1-8 with no division winners.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) July 15, 2015
That has yet to be voted on, but Silver says to expect it to be adopted for next season.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) July 15, 2015
The competition committee hasn’t changed this rule, but it’s obviously not too late.
Silver has sounded open to this switch. Doc Rivers and Gregg Popovich – whose teams had to meet in the first round as a result of the current rule – are firmly on board.
I am, too. Teams shouldn’t gain a seeding edge because they happen to play in a weaker division within the same conference. Teams in each conference play very similar schedules, and there’s no good reason to reduce equity here.
Based on Silver’s previous comments, his acknowledgment of this likely rule change leads to another question: Will this end divisions altogether?