Rumored Playoff Format Would Rob the New Orleans Pelicans

The NBA is rumored to be discussing a new playoff format that would rob the New Orleans Pelicans of a chance at the playoffs.

If the most recent rumors are true, the New Orleans Pelicans may not get a chance to show they belong in the NBA playoffs.

According to Brian Windhorst on Get Up ESPN, NBA owners are considering ditching the rest of the regular season and just starting the playoffs.

The wrinkle is that they may ignore the conferences and just seed the teams 1-16, meaning the East and West Finals are out and so are the New Orleans Pelicans.

This plan would have to be approved by the owners, so Windhorst is still somewhat doubtful it will happen, but it does show that all options are on the table. The Eastern Conference teams would have little reason to accept this format, especially the Bucks, who would then potentially have to beat the Clippers and Lakers to win a title.

There is still a chance the NBA will try to finish some semblance of the regular season, as they would like to get to 70 games, but even if this were the case, the Pelicans may decide it isn’t worth it to be practice dummies for the playoff teams.

The league could also cherry pick the most vital games to the playoff contenders, or even have a play-in tournament, though as time continues to pass without games, these options seem less and less likely.

The most likely scenario is that the NBA completes some type of playoffs, but how that is going to look is still up in the air.

If the league does decide to just seed the teams 1-16, the New Orleans Pelicans’ season would be over, which is a shame considering they still had a real chance at catching the Grizzlies if the season were allowed to finish.

With Zion Williamson and Lonzo Ball still nursing injuries, this might not be the worst result, but the Pelicans will definitely feel robbed of a chance to make the playoffs and potentially take on the Lakers.