NBA Rumors: Teams Have Pitched Draft-Style Postseason Where Top Seeds Pick Opponents

There have reportedly been discussions within the NBA about implementing a new rule that would allow the top playoff seeds to pick their first-round opponents.

According to ESPN's Zach Lowe, some teams have pitched the idea of the top three playoff seeds holding a draft in which they get to select their first-round opponent from a group of the bottom four teams in the postseason.

That would add yet another interesting wrinkle to a playoff system that has already undergone significant changes in recent years with the implementation of a postseason play-in tournament involving the Nos. 7 through 10 seeds in each conference.

The NBA first expanded to a 16-team playoff in 1984, and by 2003, each of the four playoff rounds were best-of-seven series.

As a means of compensating for games lost during the 2019-20 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NBA instituted the new play-in system that gave the teams that finished ninth and 10th in their respective conferences a chance to make the playoffs.

That carried over to the following season as well, and as of this season, it is officially the new playoff format for the NBA moving forward.

There has been plenty of discussion and speculation regarding other changes to the playoff format in recent years, although nothing concrete has come of it.

The most radical change discussed would see the top 16 teams seeded regardless of conference in an effort to increase the chances of the top two teams reaching the NBA Finals, even if they play in the same conference.

To this point, that idea has not gained enough traction to be implemented by the NBA.

If the NBA pursues the new concept of the top seeds drafting their first-round opponents, it would give the league another compelling thing to televise.

Basketball fans would undoubtedly tune in to see how the top teams strategize and decide who they want to face during the postseason.

One thing that could potentially prevent teams from accepting that change is the idea of a team feeling slighted by being picked first and thus having added motivation.

No. 8 seeds typically don't put up much of a fight against No. 1 seeds in the NBA playoffs, but the playoff draft would perhaps give even more incentive for lower-end playoff teams to push top teams to the limit.