Report: NBA Discussing Play-In Tournament for Final Playoff Seeds

The NBA is reportedly considering play-in tournaments to determine the final two playoff teams in each conference as part of a potential postseason overhaul.

On Thursday, Zach Lowe of ESPN.com noted the idea has generated "behind-the-scenes momentum," but putting the plan into effect is "not imminent."

The proposal being discussed would see seeds No. 7 through No. 10 play a three-game event. The No. 7 seed would play a home game against the No. 8 seed for direct playoff entry. The loser of that game would take on the winner of the contest between No. 9 and No. 10 for the last berth, per Lowe.

He noted the idea "may never happen," however, because it would need approval from the league's competition committee, at least 23 franchises and the players' union as part of collective bargaining.

During an All-Star Weekend media session Saturday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league also would think about seeding all 16 playoff teams in order, regardless of conference.

"You also would like to have a format where your two best teams are ultimately going to meet in the Finals," he told reporters. "You could have a situation where the top two teams in the league are meeting in the conference finals or somewhere else. So we're going to continue to look at that. It's still my hope that we're going to figure out ways."

Meanwhile, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James said such a drastic change could alter the "landscape of the history of the game," according to Tom Withers of the Associated Press.

"It's cool to mess around with the All-Star Game, we proved you can do that, but let's not get too crazy about the playoffs," he said.

James has benefited from the typically weaker Eastern Conference while making seven straight NBA Finals appearances with the Cavs and Miami Heat.

The current NBA collective bargaining agreement runs through the 2023-24 campaign, with a mutual opt-out clause one season earlier. That makes any major overhaul unlikely for a while, if ever.