The trade deadline is over. Several teams have made significant moves to inch closer towards that championship.

The Western Conference could possibly have 9 teams that win 50 games or very close to it. That would mean that one of those teams would not make the post season.

Should the NBA change the playoff seeding to include the teams with the best records regardless of their conferences?

I would be in favor of this but how do you set up the playoffs if you have 9 Western teams and 7 Eastern teams?

No, its fine the way it is. Besides to be fair they would have to change the reg season schedule so the West and East play each other an equal amount of times which would pose a lot of travel issues.

It sounds good on paper, but as Marc Cuban pointed out the other day on PTI, what if Seattle is the #1 seed and Miami is #16 ? They face each other in the first round and have to travel 3400 miles between games 2 & 3 and then a couple more times acorss country if the series goes seven. If seattle wins and faces the winner of the 8-9 seed winner Celtics, then # 1 seed seattle sits for two games, but then is back on the plane to Boston 3000 miles away and even though Seattle wins that series 4-2, the wear and tear of the cross country flights gets to them and the # 1 favored sonics get ousted in the third round.

This is a hypothethical scenario, but you get the gist of it. Travel could be a nightmare and they would possibly have to use the 2-3-2 format which would be unfair in some instances or the finals wouldn't occur until after the 4th of July holiday...

You have flukes like this once in a while. You don't change major rules because of it. I think the current format is fine.

Yes yes yes. Thank you Mr Voice of Reason

Well it would be a logistical nightmare like people have pointed out. However in theory it just doesn't make sense to have inferior teams in the playoffs still playing while far superior teams go into an offseason earlier than they should. I think someone should keep working away at this idea however difficult it may seem.

Doesn't the NFL have an arrangement where the AFC and the NFC are not determined by geography? Then again they have the same problem right now with superior AFC teams and inferior NFC teams. It's a head scratcher.

What about the NCAA format? Bracketology with four main locations. Of course then no one plays on their home court and it's one and done instead of a series.

It does seem a shame to see a Denver or Golden State sit out while a sucky EC team gets to play a whole series with someone. Especially for the fans of those teams. Also the WC teams have to work harder earlier in the playoffs to advance. This year whoever gets to the WCF is going to be pretty beat up for the Finals. Lucky for us. Maybe.

.....and thus endeth the shortest thread ever!Check..and mate.

You fix this problem by making the NBA Finals format standard 2- 3 -2 for all rounds of the playoffs.

As for playoff logistical nightmares, look no further than our own Red Wings as a prime example.

I vote no. We are in a flukey period...last season, this season, and maybe 1 or 2 more. The draft and retirements will eventually even things out.