First things first, do not get things too twisted. Bad teams that know they will be bad are not suddenly going to have a major incentive to make a playoff push. The apparent goal for this reform is to avoid giving non-playoff teams a reason to try to bottom out in-season, a decision that robs fans of a competitive product. That being said – I still believe that tanking will occur, merely in a different form.
On the night before the NBA trade deadline, let’s say that the standings (through roughly two thirds of the season) project to the following final standings:
