Things you would change about the NBA

Well, now that that's out of the way, let's get back to the topic at hand.

With the way these playoffs have gone, one thing's become abundantly clear (to me): one review per team per game is not enough. Personally, I think the NFL's coaches challenge rules are solid and would work pretty well in the NBA.

Of course, the easiest way to alleviate the need for a coach's challenge would be better reffing but that's not going to happen until robot refs become a thing so in the mean time, I think two challenges plus a third if you were successful the first two times is sufficient.
how about a team gets one free challenge and can challenge after that but a bench tech will be assessed if it fails?
 
how about a team gets one free challenge and can challenge after that but a bench tech will be assessed if it fails?
Well, in the NHL, if a team fails on a challenge, they then go a man down, thus giving the other team a 2 minute power play.

Maybe the NBA can implement something similar. If there is a failed challenge, the other team can elect to either:

1. Have 6 players on the court at the same time against the other team's 5 players

or

2. Have 5 players on the court against only 4 for the other team

So, essentially, they either play 6 on 5 ball, or 5 on 4.
 
Why yes, I did get the idea watching hockey :cool:

technical foul seemed the obvious equivalent to a delay of game bench minor
Get rid of the technical free throw, and turn it into a power play...:):):)
Also, on a flagrant...Get rid of the free throw.

Flagrant 1 = 2 minute "power play"
Flagrant 2 = 5 minute "power play"

Only difference would be that the NBA's version of a power play lasts for either 2 minutes (minor) or 5 minutes (major), and doesn't end on a score (like in hockey).
 

Tetsujin

The Game Thread Dude
At this point, it feels like the league should just institute a full farm system where each team has exclusivity over their G-League team and can call up guys to the active roster/etc. when someone gets injured/catches COVID. Maybe expand the draft to three or four rounds, get rid of the designated two-way player slots and instead expand the rosters to 30 with MLB style designations (Fifteen active at a time, players can only be swapped until they acrue a certain amount of service time). It’s not perfect but I just want to see the G-League utilized to its full potential.
 
At this point, it feels like the league should just institute a full farm system where each team has exclusivity over their G-League team and can call up guys to the active roster/etc. when someone gets injured/catches COVID. Maybe expand the draft to three or four rounds, get rid of the designated two-way player slots and instead expand the rosters to 30 with MLB style designations (Fifteen active at a time, players can only be swapped until they acrue a certain amount of service time). It’s not perfect but I just want to see the G-League utilized to its full potential.
Been saying this for years. It would make second round picks much more important.
 
Slam Ball

Implement something like this to end a game. Maybe give both teams a single 5-minute overtime, and if the game is still tied after 5 minutes, bust out the trampolines for another 5 minutes. If the game is still tied after that, then have a "Slam Ball" dunk contest. The team with the best dunks, as voted on by the fans in attendance, wins the game.

:p:p:p
 
The game has changed a lot and not for the better. Carrying the ball is now legal. Double dribbling is now legal. Traveling is called rarely.

The three ball is making for some boring basketball. Push it down the court, hoist a three.
Some teams in particular are just not that fun to watch.
 
any details on what the purpose would be of an in-season style tournament?
This in-season tournament idea is so freakin’ stupid and is going to tank my interest in the NBA as a whole.
The only way I see the in-season tournament being effective is if:

The winning team is guaranteed something when it comes to the postseason.

With that being said, here is my proposal:

Have every team in the league participate in this tournament.

The winner of the tournament has a direct impact on postseason seeding.

IF:

The winning team finishes outside of the top 10 at the end of the regular season, they have to play against the 10th seed for that final play in spot.
If they finish within the top 10, they get to keep their position (i.e. seed). Maybe add an extra incentive for finishing in the top 3 - 5 (Maybe finishing with the #1 seed gives you the opportunity to hand pick your round 1 opponent out of all of the postseason qualifiers. Once that matchup is set, the rest of the teams are seeded accordingly (i.e. 2 v 7, 3 v 6, 4 v 5).

Just a thought.

Another option is to give the winning team a guaranteed top 5 or top 10 draft pick, regardless of their record at the end of the season.
 
I don't mind tournaments like the FA cup, which has teams from multiple divisions etc. I don't see how the NBA emulates that. Unless they went really wild and changed the rules (e.g., 3 on 3),* I thinks it's just going to be regular season games that you can't call regular season games. Only benefit I can think of is young, end of bench guys get some run.

* They probably will try some NBA meets tic toc 'for the kids' idea.
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
I have a bit of trouble understanding how 8 teams advance to a single-elimination final (1 game for 4 "Lose-In-Quarterfinals" teams, 2 games for 2 "Lose-In-Semifinals" teams, 3 games for 2 "Finals" teams) and only the "Finals" teams have additional games on top of the 82.

The only thing I can imagine is that the regular season schedule is arranged so that every team *must* play every other team at least once post-December, and the games matching the Quarterfinals/Semifinals games are dropped from the upcoming regular season schedule. But that's...weird, and I can't imagine that the home teams (and season ticket holders) would be OK with dropping a game. Also, if they could do it for Quarters/Semis, then they could do it for the Final game as well...so why not? This is weird.

Is there another source that explains this further?
 
I have a bit of trouble understanding how 8 teams advance to a single-elimination final (1 game for 4 "Lose-In-Quarterfinals" teams, 2 games for 2 "Lose-In-Semifinals" teams, 3 games for 2 "Finals" teams) and only the "Finals" teams have additional games on top of the 82.

The only thing I can imagine is that the regular season schedule is arranged so that every team *must* play every other team at least once post-December, and the games matching the Quarterfinals/Semifinals games are dropped from the upcoming regular season schedule. But that's...weird, and I can't imagine that the home teams (and season ticket holders) would be OK with dropping a game. Also, if they could do it for Quarters/Semis, then they could do it for the Final game as well...so why not? This is weird.

Is there another source that explains this further?
seems like if you put the 8 teams in the tourney, they'll just have the losers play each other without official 3rd - 8th finishing (and no 3rd place game). The interesting elements there to me are that the December schedule would be made up mid-season, after the round robin to get to 8 and that could create some real interesting travel scenarios.

also what the heck do the winners get for winning?
 

Capt. Factorial

trifolium contra tempestatem subrigere certum est
Staff member
seems like if you put the 8 teams in the tourney, they'll just have the losers play each other without official 3rd - 8th finishing (and no 3rd place game). The interesting elements there to me are that the December schedule would be made up mid-season, after the round robin to get to 8 and that could create some real interesting travel scenarios.
Yeah, the mechanics of this are, as of yet, clear as mud.

also what the heck do the winners get for winning?
I think they might get a bye into the playoffs, avoiding the play-in round? I'm not at all sure on that.
 
Yeah, the mechanics of this are, as of yet, clear as mud.



I think they might get a bye into the playoffs, avoiding the play-in round? I'm not at all sure on that.
Wonder what happens if/when a team wins it and then has a total meltdown.

Sounders won the CONCACAF champions league, first team from MLS to do it under the current format so quite a big deal, and they will miss MLS playoffs as of today. They will qualify for FIFA Club Cup as a result which will be pretty neat for them - big money/meaningful games against other top teams in the world, but the impact for MLS is nil beyond the bragging rights of one of their teams winning the continental championship tournament.

this NBA thing is either going to have no draw aside from a winners check or possibly way too big a draw if it grants an auto playoff spot or higher draft pick.
 

kingsboi

Hall of Famer
I know Silver wants to think outside of the box here with this in season tournament idea but some things are best left untouched. I'd be all for reducing regular season games though for better product in the Postseason.
 
Adam Silver hinting at relegation as a way to deter tanking. Would be wild to see but would never happen, considering most G-League markets don't have the infrastructure/fanbases in place for a move up.

I feel relegation / promotion exacerbates inequality. Teams relegated lose their best players, their ability to compete financially. When they are promoted again, the best they can hope for is avoiding relegation. Also noting that European soccer seems to have the greatest gap between haves and have nots. Although a lot of that is a lack of a salary cap and disinterest/ inability to enforce financial fair play rules. Nonetheless, find another solution.