Welcome Back, Basketball

Guess who’s back. Back again. The NBA’s back. Tell a friend. In the words of Marshall Mathers, the NBA is in fact on its way to returning. A conference call is happening tomorrow afternoon with the league’s board of governors to make sure all the kinks are worked out and things can go back to running.
How Things Look Now
After three months without NBA basketball and no clear idea as to what may be next, Disney World is all but finalized as the location for the game’s return. And 22 teams are going to be taking part in this NBA reboot. Nine teams from the East and 13 teams from the West will be invited to keep playing.
In the East, things are pretty much already set. The top eight teams are all but locked in and the Wizards will try to unseat the Magic and Nets. They are likely without the services of John Wall who will be saving himself for the start of next season. They had a 24-40 record and sit 5.5 games back right now.
In both conferences, to try and spice things up, if any teams are within four games of the eighth seed, there will be a play-in tournament for that final speed. The Wizards need to make up only a game-and-a-half. And in the West, total chaos could ensue among the five teams being invited back to try and unseat the Grizzlies.
The Suns have the toughest climb here as they sit six games back. But the Blazers, Kings and Pelicans are all equal at 3.5 games back. And the Spurs are four games back. Imagine after all this craziness if the Spurs managed to extend their playoff streak for yet another year.
Plan of Action
Rather than just jump to the playoffs with 16 teams, the NBA opted to sort of copy the NHL’s model with more teams. But here, there will be eight regular-season games for everybody invited as a tune-up for the postseason and to finalize seedings. And the big idea was to try and get more from Zion.
Zion Williamson is a ratings dream, and with the rising Pelicans being in the mix, it is good for all parties involved. They have multiple All-Stars and several young stars on the roster. The Sacramento Kings have a shot to end a 14-year playoff drought, and Portland has a shot, too, with Dame, CJ, and Melo.
One of the best parts of the league’s return is that Jusuf Nurkic will be able to return after missing more than a year with a broken leg. And the Toronto Raptors will get a ‘fair’ opportunity to try and defend their first-ever NBA title.
The team that probably feels most slighted is the Grizzlies. They were firmly planted in the lead for the #8 seed race and unless they go 8-0 to finish out, they likely need to go through a whole gauntlet to end their short playoff-less streak.
Mark your calendars, ladies and gents. July 31st. The NBA is coming back, baby!