The NBA "no longer plans to stage an owners vote in April on a formal plan" that would have made "dramatic changes to the league calendar," according to sources cited by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. Sources said that the league on Friday informed teams that it "wants to continue studying and discussing the three significant items, including an in-season tournament, a play-in tournament and the reseeding of the conference finalists." Wojnarowski noted the NBA has been discussing "variations of these ideas" with teams, the NBPA and TV partners, and "will continue to do so with hopes of making a presentation to the board of governors in three months." Among the concerns, there still is "no consensus on the best time for the 30-team in-season tournament that would include pool play and a knockout round." Sources said that there had been "momentum around a tournament starting near Thanksgiving and extending into mid-December, and there's been some recent momentum for a tournament starting around Christmas and going into mid-January" (ESPN.com, 1/17). NBCSPORTS.com's Dan Feldman wrote, "I don't see how further study will help the in-season tournament." It is just a "bad idea" and fans "won't care" about it. That is "why there have been so many suggestions for generating interest" (NBCSPORTS.com, 1/17).
