In Boston, Gary Washburn wrote it is uncertain how the NBA could "arrange more play-in games" for the playoffs, "similar to baseball’s wild-card game, but it’s something that is being discussed." Washburn: "Should the NBA institute play-in games for the postseason? And how would that occur?" There seems to be a "groundswell of support for a change in the playoff system, perhaps ditching the Western/Eastern Conference format." However, until there is a "better system that includes the best 16 teams without drastically increasing travel, the current system will likely remain." A new system is "at least a year away but it is being pondered" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/22).
POSSIBLE CONTENDER: THE ATHLETIC's Seth Davis writes under the header, "Is The NBA G League Becoming A Major Threat To The College Game?" NBA G League President Malcolm Turner said, "This league has always been a highly effective and efficient place to develop talent. The difference now is, we are building a real business to help support and pay for the basketball development." But Davis notes there is "one area in which the NBA has not yet made a major investment: player salaries." Base salaries are "divided into two tiers, $19,000 and $26,000." Next year, pay will "increase to a single tier of $35,000." The G League does not compete with college when it comes to "television exposure and the other trappings of big-time basketball." But it would be "foolish for the folks who run college basketball to dismiss the G League as a potential threat" (THEATHLETIC.com, 4/23).
TOUGH TIMING: In DC, Matt Bonesteel wrote moving the WNBA season to the fall, as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver suggested last week, "would be risky, considering football’s stranglehold on the fall and an already-crowded basketball market that now starts in mid-October (for the NBA) or early November (college basketball)." By holding its season in the summer months, the WNBA "avoids those would-be competitors and gives television networks live-event programming during a time of year filled mostly" with baseball and MLS (WASHINGTON POST, 4/21).
