A majority of NBA general managers would prefer to restart the season by going straight to the playoffs based on the current standings from the suspended campaign.
According to Tim Bontemps of ESPN, 16 of the 30 NBA general managers voted for the option to go straight to the postseason. The other 14 GMs were largely split between the other three options. Eight voted to play the regular season and then a play-in tournament, while five voted to go straight to the playoffs with a play-in tournament preceding it. Only one GM voted to go by the book by resuming the NBA season before going to the traditional playoffs.
A plurality of 15 GMs felt that if there was a play-in tournament, 20 teams should be involved. There was also widespread support for more flexibility in rosters, and a majority of 18 GMs want to see all teams get to 72 games in the regular season.
These results are non-binding, as this was simply a survey taken by the league to see where the 30 GMs stand on key issues facing the NBA’s resumption.
It’s worth noting that, per another report on the survey, commissioner Adam Silver is not taking the results completely seriously. With all this taken into account, it does appear that momentum is building to go straight to the playoffs, with some sort of play-in tacked on.
