The NBA’s Board of Governors are expected to vote on an official return plan in a meeting Thursday, and details regarding that proposal are starting to leak out. While we don’t know everything yet, The Athletic’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski have revealed quite a bit.
The NBA’s 22-team format at Orlando’s Disney World would bring the 16 teams currently in a playoff spot, six additional teams, and include a play-in tournament for the eighth seed, sources said. The play-in tournament would work as follows, according to sources: If the ninth seed is more than four games behind the eighth seed, the eighth seed earns the playoff spot; if the ninth seed is four or fewer games behind, then the eighth and ninth seed will enter a play-in tournament that is double-elimination for the eighth seed and single-elimination for ninth.
I would expect that the Sacramento Kings would be included in this 22-team return considering they were just 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies and the 8-seed when the season was suspended.
Wojnarowski followed up Charania’s report and revealed that each of the 22 returning teams would play 8 ‘regular season’ games before the playoffs.
Each of the 22 teams will play eight regular season games in Orlando for seeding purposes for the playoffs, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 3, 2020
At 28-36, the Kings are currently in a 3-way 9-seed tie with the Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans if you’re going strictly off record and disregarding normal regular season tiebreakers.
If Sacramento plans on making a legitimate playoff push, they will have 8 games to finish in the 9th-seed or better. It’s not the playoffs, yet, but I’m exciting to watch the Kings play 8 games that really mean something. It’s been too long.
Looking forward to seeing who calls the games.
The refs. Why would that change?
He didnt say who fixes games
For these next eight games, we all know the right answer: Jerry Reynolds
Gary Gerould would also be a good answer.
Love Gary and Jerry, but having two old white guys calling the games after Grant shat the bed would not look right IMO. Go Gary and Doug
I’m not a big fan of Doug, but he’s gonna be the primary color commentator for the foreseeable future.
Agree on both points
I’d be down with Gary and Doug. Wonder how much longer Gary will go, maybe he could fill the gap for a few years. Let Deuce and Mo do the radio side then promote them if they do well.
Would hiring a colored person because he/she is colored look better? That screems rasicsm and I can´t see how being rasist helps against rasism.
Just take the best suited. (That would be Walt Frazier)
I mean technically Doug is already mixed race for that matter. For me right now you hire the most capable person for the job who doesn’t shout Oh Boy! You grab someone who can play well off of Doug’s missteps in color analysis and who will call a good game. I will admit Grant was a great play by play guy, and him an Jerry were a great 1-2 punch, but i think you can find someone adequate.
2020 NBA Champion: Sacramento Kings !
Seriously, I would prefer the 20 teams format, divide into 4 groups, which would put us into something like Tier 4/5, and we play against the upper tier. While our record against the better team is not bad, and we can be the dark horse
I am impressed with the new site and the participants. Kudo’s to keeping it running.
http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/05a-scotty_low.jpg
In my head I hear .. I’ve giving it all I got, We need more power. Admin speak .. thumbs up for keeping it running and everybody’s participation .. Welcome back.
The site was perfect till there was users. 😉
The Kings made the Play-ins!!!
The Wizards??? Man, now would be an awesome time to kick off the John Wall comeback tour.
It’ll be interesting to see how they do the schedules if they only bring 1 extra team from the east and 5 from the west.
Will be interesting to see which Kings team we get…beginning of the year OR end of the year Kings? Hopefully the latter!
Probably not a popular opinion, but I oppose any continuation of the season which will give this FO and ownership a false sense of accomplishment and validation, like a play-in tournament which they will spin as a postseason.
What’s nice about this proposed system is that it eliminates some of that ambiguity. They’ll have 8 games to earn a playoff spot. There’s only even a play-in if they’re the 9th seed is barely behind the 8th. Even then they have to beat the 8 seed to get in. I don’t think anyone will consider the playoff streak broken by making the play-in game in this scenario. They’ll either make the playoffs or they’ll fall short.
I get that, but I expect the FO to try and spin it differently; they are very good at deluding themselves.
They can delude themselves. I don’t think they’d delude others.
I will bet $1 the Kings are the 9th seed, technically making the playoffs, then lose in the play-in game(s). That seems like the most Kangzy outcome.
You’re on, bucko!
You’ve got Venmo?
I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO GIVING YOU MY DOLLAR, SUCKER!!!!!!
whoops just saw this. Just spent that $1 on a scratcher.
Is that good for cleaning your cache hole?
“earn.” They are 8 games below .500 after 64 games!
They haven’t earned shit!
Oh, I’d say that shit they have earned. Derision too.
Not much more than that.
If anyone needs to clean their cache, it’s the Kings!
CACHE CONSIDERATIONS!
And each of those 8 games will be against top 22 teams. So probably few or no games which kings will be favored to win.
100% agree.
BTW – they can’t even end with a winning season. Win all 8 games and that merely gets them back to .500.
This was NOT a successful season. It was yet another Kangz season marred by baffling FO and coaching decisions.
The play-in tourney is clearly different from the playoffs. I’d think & hope that any attempt to try that type of spin would fail miserably.
I could see the FO spinning it as “we made the post season” regardless of how the team finishes.
They could try to spin it that way. I don’t think many people would fall for it.
I’ll be honest, at this point I’m over the NBA and MLB seasons. I’d prefer they just focus their efforts on figuring out how to carry on next season, vs trying to cobble this one back together.
Kings FO that read this site…please share the following with Vivek
“PLAY IN GAME(S)” != “PLAYOFFS”
The official NBA logo for the Play-ins is in!
Vivek, upon getting the message that the Kings are invited to the join the other teams in Orlando:
Vlade and Walton, hearing Vivek read the line about the Kings’ infamous streak:
After arriving in Orlando, the Kings find out what’s really going down:
“Wait a second….”
“……….”
“they’re going to kill us.”
I didn’t see a timeframe for when this would start, but I hope the team has kept themselves in BB shape, and have at least a few weeks of training to get rid of the rust. I can’t see them suddenly being told to play next week and not being prepared/in shape
Shams’ article said July 31st is the targeted resumption date.
I’m hopeful that Richaun Holmes would be healed by now and ready to give us that much needed toughness.
Maybe Bagley can help us too? Or is he still recovering?
Please no more “injuries” excuses from Coach L and the front office.
Bagley is the new Caboclo….2 years away from being 2 years away
“Hey Bagley, how’s the injury going?”
In all seriousness, if Bagley is not healthy enough to play by now, he is officially an injury bug bust.
What if he was healthy enough to play when you started typing that comment, but injured by the time you stopped? 😉
Then we all blame Adam. Obviously his take was so hot that Bagley tried to raise the hot hand and injured himself. Now he has to go chill in that the cold world.
Well, he definitely didn’t raise his right hand.
With the amount of time coach L has had to watch tape I expect nothing less than the 95 Bulls when the season resumes.
So that’s 36 L’s we have to put before “uke,” right?
8 games? Kings 8 games under .500, hmm. The most Kangz scenario would be Kings go 8-0, finish in 8th, and then losing to the 9th place seed and miss the playoffs. That would still be a lot of fun.
We are inching towards a reality where the Kings break their playoff drought with games no Kings fans can watch in person.
That is so Kangz
Even if there were no pandemic, Grant would be watching the games at home like most of us.
It only took a pandemic, a new format, and peaches getting fired to break the streak.
& Vox destroying StR.
YES! SO EXCITED WE MADE THE PLAY-INS!!!!
Is that Norma Desmond?
Excerpts from Billy Wilder’s classic film “DAVID J STERN WALK”
………………………………………………………………………………………..
NBA world: “I didn’t know you were planning a comeback.”
Kings: “I hate that word. It’s a return! A return to the millions of fans who have never forgiven me for deserting the postseason.”
………………………………………………………………………………………..
Adam Silver: “The Kings will participate in the “Play-ins.”
Kings: “You heard him. I’m a star.”
NBA world: “Kings, you’re a sub-500 team. Now grow up! There’s nothing tragic about being a sub-500 team, not unless you try validating yourselves with the “Play-ins.”
Kings: “The greatest star of them all.”
………………………………………………………………………………………..
NBA world: “Oh wake up, Kings! You’d be killing yourself to an empty house. The audience left twenty years ago. Now face it!”
Kings: That’s a lie! They still want me!”
………………………………………………………………………………………..
Kings: “And I promise you, I’ll never desert you again, because after these Play-ins we’ll make next season’s Play-ins, and the next season’s Play-ins. You see, this is my life! It will always be! Nothing else! Just us and the cameras, and those wonderful fans out there in the dark!
Kings: “……..Alright, Mr. Silver. I’M READY FOR MY CLOSE-UP!”
I realize it’s super old and probably not hip to say so, but Sunset Boulevard is an absolutely PHENOMENAL movie. It really is a must-see.
I knew the quotes, but never knew the movie. Had heard of it and it’s prestigious ranking in film history, but only finally watched it last week for the first time.
I totally agree. It is phenomenal as you say, Marty.
Also, as a David Lynch fan, viewing this film (which had a big influence on Lynch’s career as a filmmaker) gave me some insights/revelations to Mulholland Drive that I never knew before, and have helped me understand and enjoy that film even more.
It’s a stunner. One of the great hollywood backstories, and it leaves you shaken at the end. One of my favorite quotes of all time….
“I am big. It’s the pictures, that got small.”
I think I’m going to watch it tonight now.
Keep your eyes peeled for the scene featuring Grant Napear’s career!
I don’t get it. Using GB based on regular season records + 8 games doesn’t make any sense since you would end up with teams playing different numbers of games. For example, after 8 games, the Blazers will have played 74 games. The Kings will have played 72 games. Which means, the Kings could very well miss out on the playoffs only because they’ve played fewer games.
It’s an interesting conundrum. I will say that GB probably makes more sense than overall record though. For example, the Blazers currently have one more win than the Kings but they also have one more loss, meaning in terms of GB they are still even. I’m assuming if this scenario happened at the end of this resumed season, we’d get a tie breaker as if they had the same record
But if, for example, the Blazers end up with two more wins than the Kings but tied in the loss column, the Kings would be 1 GB.
If they’re going to use records/GB continued from the regular season, they clearly need to have the teams play the same number of total games. And I can’t see why they couldn’t/wouldn’t. Or at least as close as possible to the same number. The Kings should play 8 games, while the Blazers play 6. Obviously, I’d have to look and see it it’s all mathematically possible, but there isn’t any reason they can’t get the game total at least within 1 of each other.
I’m think thinking they just toss the regular season records and games played out the window and only list the teams below the 8th seed in terms of how many games back they are.
Another excuse the Kings FO can use!
Well, the NBA receives the full value of the TV contracts if you play those extra 8 games, so …
If 22 teams play 8 more regular season games?
That’s my understanding. There is some threshold number of games the NBA is trying to reach.
This “earn” a chance play in crap is just a concession to get bad teams to play some more games in order for everyone to make some money.
Players were rightfully reluctant to play in games that had no impact on the post season and this was the result.
I questioned what the level of effort will be for these play ins and possibly the playoffs will be if most are just playing to get a paycheck.
Throw in all the uncertainty surrounding the 2020/21 season and the impact an injury could have on a player that will be entering free agency.
BB8 will probably view this as a great chance to earn as much $ as possible as a FA. I’d expect him to give at least a normal amount of effort.
Will this be a top 16 regardless of conference?
OT: is anyone else having issues opening the “Grant Napear fired by KHTK” story?
I click on it and it spins this article and other ones open without issue.
Again…I havent cleansed the cache in a while
It could be just because there are so many comments the article has to load. I noticed it takes more time than usual to load it when I click on it.
Wait, never mind, I can’t seem to load it at all.
Grant is causing our servers to crash again!
Like Grant, our servers are not working!
I think some of the changes have been added to the big number of responses. Adding smaller result sets and putting a pager, to divide between new page refreshes.
Also, it looks like some of the letters used in editing behave differently with different versions of browsers. The “H” problem. It appears there is a longer start of the first page reviewing, getting your browser information and working around some browser version problems.
Those are just observations. If there is a errata page, each version update could talk about what problems are being fixed? Perhaps on a about page?
I speak Jive 🙂
Yes, I can’t get it to open either.
Also, can someone please remind me how to wipe my cache? I can’t get to where new comments are yellow, so I’m having to read hundreds of comments all over again.
If you are using Chrome, click on “History,” then “Clear browsing data” and then checkmark “Cached images and files.”
Thanks–I have tried that a few times but still can’t see yellow comments. 🙁
same here
Same.
I WILL MAKE A FOLDER TITLED RikSmits AND DRAG IT TO THE TRASH!!!!!!!!
😛
I live on the edge, I go side to side.
Yeah this is the first article we’ve had that has had so many comments and so it’s having a hard time loading. We’re looking into it.
Thanks…I figured it had to do with the number of comments since all the other articles open fine.
And Im not complaining when I make point out the issues were having. I just want to get eyes on them if no one else has mentioned the problem.
It looks like it is fixed now. I’m not sure what’s going on with the yellow highlights for new comments though, I’ll have to ask Blake about that as I can’t see them either. I still see the purple for rec’d comments though.
Also don’t worry about hurting our feelings or anything, we want to know if there are any issues as soon as possible so we can try to fix them. It’s a work in progress!
Two sizes too small 😉
But please don’t boo
“I’ll need to check the tape.” – Akis
/winky face
Imagine how hard the servers will crash the day after a Kings game loss.
I used to work with this guy, I’d ask him about a schedule change and he would say…
“We’ll see if we can make that happen.”
It was code for…
“Get the fIck out of here with that nonsense.” 🙂
FOX: “Coach, I think maybe we should run rather than walk it up.”
Coach L: “We’ll see if we can make that happen.”
Everyone: “Maybe you should try to be slightly less of a douchebag, Grant.”
Grant: “We’ll see if we can make that happen.”
If the new Kings play-by-play announcer utters the words “OH BOY!”, we will know for sure that Grant’s phrase was a sneaky guerilla-marketing device for Jimboy’s Tacos.
Meanwhile, also in Florida:
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>BREAKING UPDATE: Florida reports 1,317 new COVID-19 cases. The highest since April 17.</p>— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) <a href=”https://twitter.com/DWUhlfelderLaw/status/1268207937203437569?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 3, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
So why did the NBA choose Disney World again? I hope they scrub the place down real good before the teams arrive.
Disney owns ABC/ESPN.
Ah, thanks 🙂
Isn’t Disney World reopening soon? Thought the whole idea of the NBA going there was to isolate in their bubble.
That was my thought as well. Just kind of wondering how much precaution they are taking after reading 1951’s comment about the high number of new Covid-19 cases that are popping up—or does Disney World have it’s own airport? Can the teams arrive without getting in contact with any people at all?
And were there any other alternative bubbles they explored as options? Maybe some private island that LeBron James owns, or some other deserted place like, say Arco Arena and Natomas? Maybe getting Space X to partner with them as a sponsor and take the games up to the Sea of Tranquility? (how’s THAT for altitude, Nuggets fans?!)
They want to reopen the parks sometimes in July, I believe.
July 15 for MK and AK, July 19th for Epcot and DHS
Disney Springs, a shopping district, reopened in May with distancing requirements.
WDW is larger than SF. Isolation at Coronado Springs Resort and the Wide World of Sports complex will keep them far from the general public.
WDW is the largest single site employer in the world, or was back in my day but I doubt that has changed. They have more than enough room.
Thanks, L-Train. I’ve been there once, just having trouble visualizing how they’d make it work. This helps.
I lived there back in 2007, so for a time I was quite familiar with it. They also have a massive fleet of busses for transportation but I assume the NBA will handle that, they aren’t 7 footer friendly.
Those should be reclassified as pneumonia, pronto.
Covid .. Fake Disease.
awww man. I’m 90% sure that’s the sarcasm, but I just got Poe’s Law’d
Heh. I’ll have to remember to add a smiley, or learn the sarcasm font?
I hope the break didn’t derail the type of ball we were playing.
I hope the break derailed the type of ball our future opponents were playing.
Unfortunately, our opponents Maybe getting some key contributors back.
And the Kings get Bagley back. Double whammy!
I’m having trouble getting past Bagley is a Leftest .. But we want him to be a right-est too..
I was thinking about that, but more from a style of play perspective. I don’t know how feasible it is, but if the Kings training staff could use the next two months to get the team into the type of shape needed to play at a ultra-fast pace, then they may be able to run teams off the court before their opponents have fully gotten into game shape.
Lets go 8-0, finish .500 and get in the Playoffs! WOOOOOOOOO LETSSS GOOOOOOO
It’s so weird. The Kings don’t even have to make up any ground to earn a play-in game.
With all the big things going on the last few days, this may have been lost in the shuffle:
RIP Wes Unseld. Great player, greater person.
Read up om him. Worth your time.
Rest in peace, Wes Unseld
Major contributor to the game. Huge Loss. RIP
I always have thought Unseld and Walton to be the two best outlet passers in NBA history. The ball would be out before they hit the ground.
RIP.
From Twitter:
John
@HeuristicLineup
The Sacramento Kings 8 games would be:
Pelicans
Nets
Mavericks
Rockets
Magic
Pelicans
Pacers
Spurs
Quote Tweet
Vincent Goodwill
@VinceGoodwill
· 13m
The plan is for teams to continue their schedule as planned, with the next 8 games. If team is scheduled to play Hawks/Bulls/Pistons, it moves onto the next game on schedule, league sources tell Yahoo Sports
SactownBabyGiraffe
@TimMaxwell22
·
2m
Kings record versus these opponents:
Pelicans: 0-1
Nets: 0-1
Mavericks: 1-2
Rockets: 1-1
Magic: 0-1
Pelicans: 0-1
Pacers: 0-1
Spurs: 1-1
Combined record: 3-9
From me:
Happy to see some more games this year. Hopefully it will motivate our young players to keep working and improving their craft. I would be over the moon if they made it into an actual playoff series. No joke, I would cry… Maybe a lot.
After thinking this through a bit, I dont really like it. The Kings arent good enough to win out the 8 games, so they are going just to meet the threshold for TV revenue. Good for them to get some playing time together, but with all of the other teams involved they will probably struggle the most. I say run like they did last year under Joerger, and dont play Bagley, I dont like that idea but Len was playing great in his role and I dont want Bagley to take his minutes. I still believe Bagley can be a great player, but with thos limited time it’s not going to benefit the team to play him over Len.
Maybe Bagley will be more effective with the faster-pace offense?
But I definitely enjoyed Len’s play for the Kings and would love to see him and Richaun going all out.
Bagley playing would probably be best for his development. The Kings are unlikely to make the actual playoffs, so developing Bagley would still be important.
Can Bagley even make it to the game without stubbing a toenail or spraining an eyelash?
This is my first visit to the new site and it looks amazing. Kudos to all involved. Can someone give me a GIF tutorial, pretty please? Hope this community is staying healthy, both mentally and physically, and I’m excited to be a new member.
Just copy the url to the gif i.e. https://Riksmitswittygifs . com/Vladepackinguphisoffice.gif and paste it into the comment.
I intentionally left the space in the url so it wouldnt try to post a gif that doesnt exist…..yet
Yeah, well. Kosta dragged that folder to the Trash. Thanks Kosta! You can go and high five yourself!
Hey devo, welcome to the site! For gifs and other images, you can simply copy and paste the url of the image itself straight into the comment box and it should appear.
Thanks, what a great feature. You guys hit it out of the park and I will definitely be donating more than just GIFs to the site.
Will they televise this?
I’m predicting record numbers for the first game since the break.
I’m pretty sure all of this is going to be televised, and it sounds like it might be just like Summer League where there are just games all day.
That’s my guess as well. I mean, how many courts could Disneyworld possibly have? I fully expect 12 hours of straight basketball with a common core of announcers from ESPN, NBATV, and TNT. I’m thinking the major networks still get their game times slots with TNT on Thursdays, ABC on Sundays, etc. I then expect all of the other games will be on NBATV. I have a feeling there will be no local affiliated broadcast crews.
Quite a lot of capacity
https://www.espnwwos.com/complex-new-arena/
Wow, I didn’t realize that had that many options. It looks like 3 legit indoor venues that can house a pro basketball game, complete with broadcast capabilities. Color me impressed. I think they could easily schedule up to two games per day in each facility. I say only 2 because they are going to need practice time as well, but there may be other places to do that. If 2 games per facility per day, you could have up to 12 teams play per day out of 22. That is very doable.
Yeah, a friend of mine worked at the Wide World of Sports Complex 14 years ago. This was before they expanded their indoor facilities. Even then they were able to host draft workouts.
If these games are without people in the stands and not televised, did they really happen?
Work from home is sounding much more appealing now.
I’m pretty sure the reason for this format is so that games can be televised & so that the NBA can make as much $ as possible.
So when the Kings make the playoffs, do you think Grant mutes the audio?
OK, dis is weird. I say “dis” instead of “t*is” because for some reason,t*e letter after G doesn’t work on t*is specific website. Typing K or L also makes t*e webpage scroll wildly. I blame Vlade.
Hey Bitgod, this was an issue on a previous update, if you (say it with me now) wipe your cache that should fix it. We are working on some other things that could be causing issues right now, so bear with us if you’re still experiencing problems after.
Now you know how Popeye’s felt when they were running out of chicken sandwiches.
I submit a motion to change the site’s name to WipeYourCachedotcom
If that name is taken; the same name without the letter H.
Define “wipe”. I’ve gone into Firefox Options>Privacy & Security>Clear Data and *ad bot* c*eckboxes for Cookes and Site Data and cac*ed web content c*ecked. Logged in….and obviously t*at didn’t *elp.
Eh, it’s working OK in Chrome. I’ll just use chrome, less effort to fix even though I now have to log into all my sites in FF again. Sorta ironic, since I always had problems with SBNation the past few years in FF and had to use chrome.
I’m hoping the Kings and the other non-Top 16 teams, are not being brought to Florida as the USA Select team. Fodder for the top teams to get ready for the real playoffs. I’m sorry to think that, but there is a cartoon Sun-Kings which comes to mind. It is messing with me.
https://tse2.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.UQt-ChiCoZnp1KMK7r6mTAHaEK&pid=Api&P=0&w=303&h=171
I can’t even down vote myself in retrospect. Hiss .. ok the H works 🙂
Dude … We are here for 8 easy wins !!
Mmmmmm. NBA basketball. Me wantey pronto.
Badge Legend