OK, if you didn't like the 1-16 seeding idea, how about play-in games for the last two playoff spots in each conference?

Yup, they're talking about that, too.

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22542...tournament

Quote:The play-in proposal that has generated the most discussion, according to several sources: two four-team tournaments featuring the seventh, eighth, ninth, and 10th seeds in each conference. The seventh seed would host the eighth seed, with the winner of that single game nabbing the seventh spot, sources say. Meanwhile, the ninth seed would host the 10th seed, with the winner of that game facing the loser of the 7-versus-8 matchup for the final playoff spot.

The implementation of a play-in tournament is not imminent. It falls behind the one-and-done rule and perhaps reseeding the playoffs 1-16 regardless of conference in the current reform pecking order. (It could go hand-in-hand with that change, only with one play-in tournament instead of separate brackets for each conference.)

Here's how that would look if implemented this season and if the regular season was over:

Western Conference
(8) New Orleans at (7) Portland -- winner gets Western #7 seed
(10) Utah at (9) Clippers -- winner plays loser of 8/7 game, and winner of that game gets Western #8 seed

Eastern Conference
(8) Miami at (7) Philadelphia -- winner gets Eastern #7 seed
(10) Charlotte at (9) Detroit -- winner plays loser of 8/7 game, and winner of that game gets Eastern #8 seed

This probably has slightly more chance of happening than the 1-16 proposal, both because it gives the east as many playoff spots as the west, and because it can be sold as an anti-tanking format, on the theory that any team in contention for their conference's top 10 would not tank for a lottery pick.

But, it's still a long shot to ever be implemented.