Jordan Hamm
As the NBA continues its return at a steady pace, a vote is reportedly happening tomorrow to approve a 22-team format.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the top eight teams in each conference will head to Orlando, as well as teams that are within sixth games of eighth place in their respective conferences: New Orleans, Portland, San Antonio, Sacramento and Washington.
And the Phoenix Suns.
According to Wojnarowski’s report, there is also the possibility of a play-in tournament for the postseason if the ninth seed is within four games of the eighth place team at the regular season’s conclusion. The ninth seed would need to beat the eighth seed twice to advance to the playoffs.
The NBA's return plan includes 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams.
Here's who's in, according to @wojespn. pic.twitter.com/8s0qYYgLtt
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 3, 2020
According to Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill, the remaining eight games would play out as they were scheduled among the remaining 22 teams. That means the Suns’ schedule would look like this:
- Dallas Mavericks
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Dallas Mavericks
- Indianapolis Pacers
- Washington Wizards
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Miami Heat
- Oklahoma City Thunder
So what would it take for the Phoenix Suns to play meaningful, pseudo-postseason basketball?
The team is currently six games behind the eighth seeded Memphis Grizzlies and have the Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs standing in the way.
According to SuperBookUSA, the Suns have 10,000/1 odds to win the NBA championship.
To quote one movie (sort of), the odds may not be in the Suns’ favor, but to quote another movie, “You’re saying there’s a chance?”
