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NBA eyes 22-team comp for resumption

AAP
Aron Baynes' improved Phoenix Suns would be included under a 22-team NBA competition restart plan.
Camera IconAron Baynes' improved Phoenix Suns would be included under a 22-team NBA competition restart plan.

Only the top 22 teams will resume the interrupted NBA season under a proposal expected to be voted on this week.

The NBA has been advancing a plan that would include the 16 teams currently holding play-off positions and six more teams within six games of the eighth seed in each conference, according to ESPN.

Those teams include New Orleans, Portland, Australian guard Patty Mills' San Antonio, Sacramento and Boomers' centre Aron Baynes' improved Phoenix in the Western Conference and Washington in the East.

Ben Simmons' Philadelphia are sixth in the East while Joe Ingles' Utah Jazz sit safely in fourth in the West, while Matthew Dellavedova's Cleveland are last in the East and would not feature under this system.

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With its season derailed by the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA is finalising a proposal to resume the season - which was paused on March 11 - in Orlando on July 31, according to ESPN.

The 22-team model is part of a proposal expected to be presented by commissioner Adam Silver to the league's board of governors on Thursday.

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During a Board of Governors call last week, Silver and owners discussed a possible "play-in" round of the post-season to finalise the top eight seeds in each conference.

The traditional best-of-seven playoffs series format would follow with the NBA Finals to finish on October 12, almost a year after the season began.

However, ESPN reported Silver remains open to input and ideas on all aspects of the return-to-play plan.

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