Report: NBA, union discuss expanded play-in tourney for next season

The NBA and National Basketball Players Association have continued to discuss a likely postseason play-in tournament for 2020-21 that would potentially provide the league with another revenue stream, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Zach Lowe.

In the reportedly proposed format, the final two playoff berths in each conference would be up for grabs. The seventh- and eighth-placed teams would compete first to determine who will proceed to the playoffs as the true No. 7 seed. The loser would then face the winner of a matchup between the ninth- and 10th-placed sides, with the eventual victor emerging as the true 8-seed.

The league experimented with a similar but smaller play-in tournament during the 2019-20 restart in Orlando. The ninth-placed Memphis Grizzlies had an opportunity to leapfrog the Portland Trail Blazers for the final playoff seed in the Western Conference if they defeated them twice. Portland won the first game, though, immediately booking its spot in the postseason's first round.

However, the play-in only applied because the Grizzlies finished the regular season within four games of the Trail Blazers. (There was no such tournament in the East.) There have been no talks as of yet to implement a similar standings requirement for a 2020-21 play-in tournament, as fewer teams - and thus fewer games - would decrease the event's revenue, sources told Wojnarowski and Lowe.

Discussions between the league and union regarding next season have hit an impasse due to disagreements over a start date. The NBA is believed to be targeting Dec. 22, while players prefer to begin the campaign in January. Commissioner Adam Silver reportedly told teams Monday that the league is "running out of time" to strike an agreement for a December tipoff.