Could 1-through-16 playoff seeding light a fire under LeBron's Cavaliers?

What would it take to make LeBron James and the Cavaliers care about their regular-season record?

That's a question Adam Silver and the NBA league office brain trust could answer by introducing the new playoff structure currently under consideration. Under the current structure, teams are seeded 1-through-8 within their conference; the new format would see the 16 playoff teams re-seeded 1-through-16 by record, regardless of conference.

There would still be eight playoff teams from both conferences, but it's still a step toward balancing the playoffs - forcing contenders in the weak Eastern Conference to fight a little harder to earn their seed.

Let's take a look at how the teams would have been re-seeded in the first round of the 2017 playoffs and examine some of the implications of a redesigned playoff structure.

(Tiebreaker priority per NBA.com)

Logistically, four of the first-round matchups are still intra-conference, and only one of the inter-conference matchups - Jazz vs. Wizards - features a somewhat cumbersome route that adds a travel burden to the series. Eventually, 1-through-16 playoff seeding would lead to a truly ungodly travel itinerary - picture Blazers vs. Heat, or Suns vs. Celtics. Still, the teams are flying private; pray for the poor beat writers trying to get from the Pacific Northwest to South Beach via commercial flights.

The Spurs and Rockets, who had tough matchups against the Grizzlies and Thunder, respectively, would've had somewhat easier matchups against the Bulls and Pacers. That could lead to shorter series and healthier, better-rested bodies heading into Round 2, but it would also lower the possibility of a first-round upset. As it was, only one first-round series went to a Game 7 this past year.

One downside to untethering playoff series from their traditional playoff opponents is decreasing the potential for playoff rematches. The Grizzlies and Spurs faced each other in four of the past seven playoffs. Would intense rivalries foster without the added pressure of repeated playoff meetings? Unlikely.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

But perhaps the biggest ramification of the new potential structure would be incentivizing teams in the weaker conference to fight harder for their seeding. Last year, the Cavaliers sleepwalked to a second seed. With respect to the Celtics, LeBron James and Co. knew they didn't have to worry about elimination until they reached the Finals.

But had the Cavaliers fallen to the fifth seed last season, a third straight Finals appearance would've been extremely difficult. If higher seeds went chalk in their matchups throughout the playoffs, the Cavs would have faced the Grizzlies in Round 1, the Celtics in Round 2, and then the Warriors in the semi-finals. Based on the results of the actual 2017 Finals, that's probably as far as the Cavs would've gone.

So there's clearly a trade-off. Some teams would face longer travel days during cross-country series, and the widened pool of playoff opponents within the first three rounds of the playoffs would prevent some rivalries from really taking off. On the other hand, LeBron James wouldn't be able to cruise through the Eastern Conference, en route to his 7th straight Finals appearance. A motivated LeBron is something to behold.

Overall, 1-through-16 playoff seeding is probably a road worth going down. If it takes a bit of creativity to force the Eastern Conference to finally live up to its Western counterpart, so be it.