Adam Silver floats seeding NBA playoff teams regardless of conference

NBA commissioner Adam Silver offered up an intriguing proposal that could make the playoffs a bit more interesting in the future.

Silver suggested on Sunday that the NBA continue to take the eight best teams in each conference for the playoffs, but seed them 1-16 based on record no matter where they play.

“You also would like to have a format where your two best teams are ultimately going to meet in the Finals,” Silver said, via ESPN’s Brian Windhorst. “You could have a situation where the top two teams in the league are meeting in the conference finals or somewhere else. So we’re going to continue to look at that. It’s still my hope that we’re going to figure out ways.”

The NBA has sought solutions to the fact that, in recent years, the Western Conference has been significantly more powerful than the East. The East would be unwilling to give up any playoff spots, so this could be a fine compromise, though Silver stressed that it isn’t even a formal proposal yet.

“That is something that’s gotten serious attention — not just recently, but over the last few years at the league office,” Silver said.

Silver has other issues on his plate, so this won’t be a high-priority fix. That said, it’s fair to say that the Golden State Warriors will likely have a tougher time with the Western Conference Playoffs than they will if they make it to the NBA Finals. More relevantly, the Cleveland Cavaliers have traditionally faced little resistance from the shallow East en route to the Finals. This would change those things while ensuring that neither conference loses playoff spots.