First-off, cut the schedule from 82 games to 70 by cutting out the second half of back-to-backs. Why? The cellar-dwellers of the NBA need to be incentivized to compete through the conclusion of the season.
The way to keep teams competitive is by having a postseason tournament for the non-playoff teams (…I must admit I’m stealing some ideas from a recent Grantland article). They’ll compete for seeding for a tournament that will determine the draft order that summer.
All of a sudden all of the talk about tanking will go away. And, you’ll be seeing everybody’s stars each night by cutting out the back-to-backs.
Another big change I would make is reduce the foul-out limit from 6 to 5. This would put more of an emphasis on bench play and even more importantly, players will make a conscious effort to foul less, there-by maintaining the flow of the game and making games more watchable.
What changes would you make to today’s NBA? Comment below.
