Monroe: If NBA Were The D-League: A Choice Idea

[duncan228]

If NBA were the D-League: A choice idea
Mike Monroe

The NBA's Development League has turned out to be a valuable innovation, especially for the Spurs, Lakers and Thunder, who own their own franchises.

Ins uted in 2001 with eight teams, all located in the Southeastern United States (Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama), the league has expanded over the past few years. Now it is coast-to-coast, with 16 teams. A 17th team is scheduled to join next season.

The benefit for the Spurs accrues from having Quin Snyder coaching players such as Malik Hairston, Anthony Tolliver and Pops Mensah-Bonsu, teaching them the very same offensive and defensive schemes, using the same terminologies, that Gregg Popovich employs.

Sometimes, the league serves as a test lab for the NBA, and you wonder if the latest D-League experiment is something David Stern and Stu Jackson will be monitoring, with the thought of possibly implementing it in the NBA in the future.

Announced only recently, the D-League's “name your first-round playoff opponent” system rewards the league's three division winners by letting them pick first-round opponents from among the playoff teams seeded 5-8.

The division winner with the best record picks first, followed by the winner with the next-best record.

For buzz value alone, the D-League's “name your playoff opponent” system has brought plenty of attention.

The Austin Toros are in a tight race with the Colorado 14ers for the Southwest Division le, virtually tied for first.

What will the team's basketball staff do if the Toros win the division and earn the right to name their first-round foe?

“Everything will be on the table,” said Dell Demps, the Spurs' Director of Pro Player Personnel, who doubles as general manager of the Toros. “We'll sit down with the coaching staff and weigh everything.”

Included in the decision-making process: The outrage factor.

“Just think if you pick a team with a better record than the one you would have been slotted to play,” Demps said. “You think that's not going to give them a little added motivation?”

Matchups will be a big factor, too. So will history. The D-League's first round is a one-and-done, with the team with the best record playing at home. If the Toros have a perfect home record against one of the potential opponents, that will weigh heavily.

It's intriguing to imagine how the system might work in the NBA. Since divisions were realigned in 2002 (when the Hornets moved from Charlotte to New Orleans), Stern and Jackson have sought a way to add value to division les. Giving the winners a choice of first-round playoff opponents would accomplish that goal.

Imagine the choices in the Western Conference.

As of Monday morning, the Pacific-leading Lakers would be able to choose among the Hornets, Trail Blazers, Jazz and Mavericks. The Spurs, leaders of the Southwest Division, would get choice No. 2, with the Northwest-leading Nuggets getting third choice.

The No. 4 seed would be stuck with whichever team was not selected by the division champs.

The Lakers probably wouldn't pass up playing the No. 8 Mavericks, but if the Trail Blazers were to slide to No. 8, it might be a different story. The Lakers have lost seven straight games at The Rose Garden. That might be cause for pause.

And if the Spurs were to choose among the Blazers, Jazz and Hornets?

There is no good answer, unless one of those potential foes had a key player out with injury.

One thing is certain: Adopting the D-League system would give the NBA a “Selection Sunday” of its own that would be just as intriguing as the NCAA's tournament draw.

[lurker23]

The first time I heard about this, I thought it sounded kind of gimmicky. However, I do agree that this would be an intriguing way to reward division winners, particularly in years like the last two where there's not a big record difference in 2-8, but there could be a big matchup difference.