Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban recently suggested that the NBA should expand its playoffs, and he might have a point.
Currently, eight teams in each conference earn a playoff spot. Cuban proposes expanding that to 10 teams per conference. His chief arguments are that expansion would ensure that quality teams in a stronger conference will still qualify, that fewer teams will tank their season once it’s clear a playoff spot is unlikely, and fans from more teams will be interested deeper into the season.
Expanding the NBA Playoffs is a Great Idea
One only needs to look at the 2014-15 season to see why Cuban’s proposal makes sense. Take the Oklahoma City Thunder, which have the misfortune of playing in the loaded Western Conference. The Thunder (45-37) finished second in the Northwest Division but missed the playoffs, losing a tiebreaker to the New Orleans Pelicans, who finished with an identical record.
The Thunder missed the playoffs, but they had better records than teams from the Eastern Conference that did make it in: the Milwaukee Bucks (41-41), the Boston Celtics (40-42), and the Brooklyn Nets (38-44).
Had Cuban’s proposal been in place, the Mavericks and Phoenix Suns would have been in the Western Conference playoffs, while the Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat would have joined the Eastern Conference fray.
Cuban is right. Growing the playoffs is a great idea for the NBA to consider. Here are five reasons why:
More teams with skin in the game
One proposal NBA commissioner Adam Silver mentioned is seeding all playoff teams by record. This would eliminate coasting at the top AND the bottom of each conference. Division winners would still need to tough it out late in the season to secure a higher seed. And are fans really interested in seeing teams like the Philadelphia 76ers tanking for the “honor” of a better odds for the lottery ping-pong balls?
Capture March Madness-style excitement
What if expansion features one-and-done series in the opening round? The NCAA tourney is chock full of drama, and is a ratings bonanza. What fun would it be to spend a Saturday watching buzzer-beating games among, say, the bottom eight teams in a win-or-go-home scenario?
Everyone’s doing it
Each of the other Big Four professional leagues has or is talking about expanding playoffs. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expects to expand the playoff teams from 12 to 14. The NHL is considering growing from 16 to 20 postseason contenders, which would be the first increase since the NHL-WHL merger in 1979-80. And MLB added two wild-card teams in 2012, jumping from eight to 10 playoff berths.
It’s not self-serving
Many likely condemned Cuban as trying to angle for more dough in his coffers in arguing for expansion. They may have a point, but the Mavs have made the playoffs 14 out of the past 15 years, meaning he wouldn’t benefit as directly as other owners. He has a top-shelf franchise already, and he recognizes that the league would likely benefit more broadly from more franchises being contenders deep into the season.
It’s all about the Benjamins
For the owners, this is really a no-brainer. More playoff games mean more revenue from tickets and hot dogs. It means more television exposure. It means fewer empty seats for seemingly late-season inconsequential games, and even more tickets sold. For those bandwagon-jumping fans who might tune out a lagging NBA team when the weather warms up, the possibility of a playoff push garners more interest.
While there are still details to work out, the idea of more hardwood games for more franchises seems a no-brainer. Cuban may often be a pain in the neck for the league and its commissioner, but on this notion he has a point.
