Clippings: Doc Rivers proposes play-in tournament for NBA playoffs

While the NBA still apparently harbor hopes of finishing the full 82-game regular season and playing a full playoffs slate to wrap up the 2019-20 season, there is the chance the league may have to get creative to finish off the season, if the coronavirus pandemic allows them to restart in the coming months at all.

LA Clippers head coach Doc Rivers offered an interesting idea to wrap up the regular season, telling Cedric Maxwell’s CLNS podcast he would opt for a short tournament among a select group of teams aiming to reach the postseason.

Rivers would keep the worst teams, like the Golden State Warriors, who have already thrown in the towel for this season, out of the mix, as well as the top seeds, like the Clippers. While the top seeds would be spending the time practicing and getting ready for the playoffs, Rivers wants the last two seeds in and the first two bubble teams to play each other in a warm-up tournament to reach the playoffs.

“The one I like the best is 7, 8, 9 and 10 [seeds] have a playoff to get into playoffs,” Rivers said.

The appeal is that the teams at the bottom could get a shot to upset a top seed with a bit more rhythm coming into a proper playoff series, while the top teams may have more cohesion with time to practice and their previous advantages for playing better all season. It’s radical, but hey, it would unquestionably be a huge hit for a public desperate to see the NBA back in play.

More news for this Thursday:

• Leaguewide conference call on Friday: Ramona Shelburne reported in ESPN on Wednesday NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts will hold a joint call for all of the league’s players on Friday. The report indicates the call will be an “open forum,” where I assume one of the first questions will be “What is the plan?”
• What if the Clippers drafted Curry? This counterfactual history from Yahoo Sports is interesting, not least because it admits that if the Clippers had drafted Stephen Curry instead of Blake Griffin in 2009, Curry most likely would have been traded away during his rookie deal, which yep, sounds about right. Also, it would have totally altered the course of history for several other teams.
• Adams the missing piece? ClutchPoints argues the Clippers need to trade for Steven Adams to really put them over the hump to win a title. He makes a boatload of money, so does this trade make sense for the Clippers or the Thunder?
• Worst shoes in NBA history: There have been some great shoes in NBA history, but there have also been a bunch of bad ones, and this top (sorry, bottom) 10 list from ESPN is entertaining and also barely scratches the surface of the many, many awful shoes over the years.