What Would NBA Playoffs Without Conferences Look Like?
By Andrew Ross
Could the NBA look to change the way the playoffs are done if the conferences continue to be unbalanced?
One of the biggest talking points surrounding the NBA playoffs for the past few seasons has been the noticeable difference between the two conferences.
The Western Conference is looked at as gladiators battling it out in the Colosseum while the Eastern Conference is just a bunch of little kids gloating about their participation ribbons to their parents.
While the narrative of the conferences has become a bit exaggerated, there is reason for all of this chaos.
As it looks now, the West is well on its way to having a team with a winning record miss the playoffs for a seventh straight season, and the East is on pace to have a team make the playoffs with a losing record for the third straight season.
The West has been as advertised for some time now, but the East hasn’t been this bad for an incredibly long time.
Do I think letting teams into the playoffs with losing records is fair? Absolutely – that’s just how it goes. However, do I feel satisfied with the results? Absolutely not.
I don’t think anyone wants to see a 48-34 team miss the playoffs while a 38-44 team makes them, but that sure happened last season.
There aren’t many ways to stop this from happening besides simply taking away the conferences and making an open playoff (think March Madness).
This would be an extraordinary change that I never would have imagined possible with David Stern as the NBA Commissioner, but Adam Silver seems like a very forward-thinking man that might consider something like this.
While I don’t believe this is something that needs to be considered right now, I do think it would become worth consideration if the state of the two conferences doesn’t change in a few years.
With all that said, let’s take a look at what the playoffs would look like without conferences.
LAST YEAR’S NBA PLAYOFFS
I know you probably don’t need a reminder, but last year’s playoffs – specifically the first round – were unbelievable.
Five of the eight first round series went to seven games, and there were memorable moments all over the place.
Considering that, it’s hard to look back on something and want to change it, and it would have been very different without the consideration of conferences.
The original Western Conference playoffs were: (1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Dallas Mavericks, (2) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (7) Memphis Grizzlies, (3) Los Angeles Clippers vs. (6) Golden State Warriors and the (4) Houston Rockets vs. (5) Portland Trail Blazers.
The original Eastern Conference playoffs were: (1) Indiana Pacers vs. (8) Atlanta Hawks, (2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Charlotte Bobcats, (3) Toronto Raptors vs. (6) Brooklyn Nets and the (4) Chicago Bulls vs. (5) Washington Wizards.
Here is what an open playoff would have looked like with the top 16 teams in the league: (1) Spurs vs. (16) Bobcats, (2) Thunder vs. (15) Wizards, (3) Clippers vs. (14) Nets, (4) Pacers vs. (13) Phoenix Suns, (5) Rockets vs. (12) Raptors, (6) Heat vs. (11) Bulls, (7) Trail Blazers vs. (10) Mavericks and the (8) Warriors vs. (9) Grizzlies.
The biggest difference with that type of format is the aforementioned 48-34 team (Suns) does get in over the 38-44 team (Hawks).
While all the other teams still made the playoffs in the original format, the seeding and everything else is much different.
I think this format would create better competition across the board as the Spurs vs. Bobcats looks to be the only “boring” series. I fully believe all the other series would have potential to be great.
This type of format would also bring a higher level of competition sooner rather than later. There would be no room for a mediocre Nets team to mess around and win a playoff series, and I think six of the final eight teams in this bracket would be former Western Conference teams (giving the people what they want).
Yes, last season’s postseason was one to remember, but I still think it would have been better without conferences.
THIS YEAR’S NBA PLAYOFFS
I know it’s not even 2015 yet, but try to imagine the upcoming playoffs with me for the purpose of this little experiment.
If the season ended today, the Western Conference playoffs would be: (1) Warriors vs. (8) New Orleans Pelicans, (2) Grizzlies vs. (7) Spurs, (3) Trail Blazers vs. (6) Clippers and the (4) Rockets vs. (5) Mavericks.
Likewise, the Eastern Conference playoffs would be: (1) Raptors vs. (8) Boston Celtics, (2) Wizards vs. (7) Heat, (3) Hawks vs. (6) Milwaukee Bucks and the (4) Bulls vs. (5) Cleveland Cavaliers.
An open playoff with the top 16 teams would be: (1) Warriors vs. (16) Thunder, (2) Trail Blazers vs. (15) Pelicans, (3) Grizzlies vs. (14) Suns, (4) Raptors vs. (13) Bucks, (5) Mavericks vs. (12) Cavaliers, (6) Hawks vs. (11) Spurs, (7) Rockets vs. (10) Bulls and the (8) Clippers vs. (9) Wizards.
2013-14 only had one team knocked out for another, but this year would have two East teams (Celtics, Heat) knocked out for two West teams (Thunder, Suns).
I don’t think anyone would have a problem with having 10 teams from the West in compared to only six teams from the East. Heck, the fact that the Celtics are even in playoff contention seems pretty laughable. After all, they are supposed to be one of the teams playing for ping pong balls and they are currently just 10-14.
The NBA has only been back for a couple of months, so a lot is going to change before the postseason comes around. However, just imagine how it would feel to not have the Thunder in the playoffs because of injuries to their two all-star players while the Bucks are allowed to get knocked out of the first round.
I thought the competition would have improved with this format last season, but man, the potential competition for this season is outstanding. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson against Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in the first round while LaMarcus Aldridge and Anthony Davis battle it out at the same time? Where do I sign up?
I have to bring myself back to reality before I get too excited.
There’s probably no chance at this ever happening, but I’m not old enough to stop fantasizing. The closest thing to this happening would be a realignment of the conferences, and even that would be incredible in its own right.
Hopefully the East can continue to improve and one day get on the level of the West, but change might become necessary if things continue this way for years to come.