What NBA return format is best option for OKC Thunder?

Best case for OKC Thunder:

The current momentum is for the 22 teams to participate and this is the better of the two options for OKC. It’s unlikely the Thunder will try to lose their way into 11th to retain the draft pick but at least they’ll have that choice.

Of greater importance is the team’s ability to move up the ladder. As noted there are at least two or three teams within their grasp and depending on the number of regular-season games the league decides upon they could move up several rungs.

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It seems unlikely Adam Silver would seed by league instead of by conference when five West teams would be competing against three East teams for the final seeds.

The Commissioner has long wanted to do something different with the playoff round and by having a play-in tournament he’ll get that opportunity. While this situation can be looked at as the perfect opportunity to do something completely different the caution is it would be better to succeed with one change that could be replicated next season.

League seeding would require 20 teams committing to that occurring but it’s hard to imagine five Eastern clubs voting for league versus conference seeding.

As the OKC Thunder and their counterparts await the decision this coming Thursday it sure seems like the 22 game format will be the choice. I could be off base in saying Silver will stick with the conference seeding but that’s my educated guess.

If that proves correct, Thunder Nation should hope OKC moves up a notch but also pull for the Jazz to not fall below the fifth seed. Albeit, the Rockets would be my second choice of the teams likely to be the first-round opponent.

And with that, we wait until Thursday when we’ll know for sure and then be able to look more closely at the potential matchups.