NBA Mid-Season Tournament

Adam Silver made news recently from Las Vegas when he talked about the possibility of a mid-season tournament (like the FA Cup in the EPL), and his intentions to continue searching for ways to improve the league. I've already written about my stance on the playoffs, and to reiterate:

• Abolishing the East/West Conferences
• Taking the top 16 teams league-wide for the playoffs
• Restructure the divisions from 6 divisions of 5 teams to 5 geographic divisions of 6 teams

Here is what those divisions would look like:

Pacific:
1. Portland Trailblazers
2. Sacramento Kings
3. Golden State Warriors
4. Los Angeles Lakers
5. Los Angeles Clippers
6. Phoenix Suns

South Central: 
1. Utah Jazz
2. Denver Nuggets
3. Dallas Mavericks
4. San Antonio Spurs
5. Houston Rockets
6. Oklahoma City Thunder

Great Lakes:
1. Minnesota Timberwolves
2. Milwaukee Bucks
3. Chicago Bulls
4. Indiana Pacers
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
6. Detroit Pistons

Atlantic: 
1. Boston Celtics
2. New York Knicks
3. Brooklyn Nets
4. Philadelphia 76ers
5. Washington Wizards
6. Toronto Raptors

South East: 
1. New Orleans Pelicans
2. Miami Heat
3. Orlando Magic
4. Atlanta Hawks
5. Charlotte Hornets
6. Memphis Grizzlies

Now I do agree that the 82 game NBA Schedule is too long and quite boring (Many people suggest the off-season is more exciting). I prefer the idea of a 66 game schedule, and games only certain weekdays. Similar to the NFL who only play Monday, Thursday and Sunday. However that is for another post, and my point is that I do not like the idea of a mid-season tournament as a solution to make the regular season more exciting. Here is what I want to happen:

Without the conferences, I want them to have an All Star Team for every division. Currently the divisions in the NBA are pretty meaningless. Fans only focus on overall conference standings for the playoffs, but allowing for these geographic regions to team up for the All Star Game Tournament would be very exciting and bring new meaning to NBA divisions. Like the MLB, every team would need to be represented on the 12 man roster leading to increased interest from every market. The 6 teams would play a seeded tournament, and the tournament seeds would be based on combined division win percentage. So the 2 and 3 teams and 4 and 5 teams would play first, while the best division get byes. Here is what the new week long NBA All Star schedule would look like:

Sunday would be an off day. Monday night they would do the 3point, Dunk, and Skills competitions. Tuesday night they would have the Sophomore-Rookie Challenge. Wednesday would have the  4 vs 5, 3 vs 2  matchups. Thursday would be the 4/5 vs 1 matchup. Friday would be off. Saturday night would be the All Star Tournament Final. And the following Sunday would again be off.

This new system would have several advantages:

Unlike a 4 or 8 team mid-season tournament, all teams will have representation
This increase in representation will also increase viewership
More players will get the opportunity to participate in All Star festivities
Fans would be treated to 6 super teams that would be an absolute blast to watch
The NBA can incentivize the tournament so that players would try to win
If players try to win, the tournament would not be the glorified street ball game it currently is
Piggy backing, the All Star Tournament could have meaning like the MLB All Star Game
More players like Kyrie Irving (2014 ASG MVP) would have a chance to shine on a national stage

Hopefully Adam Silver takes a look at doing something like this. In my next post I will examine what these teams could have looked like last season.