Exploring the different playoff scenarios for the Memphis Grizzlies
By Ethan Becker
Playoff Scenario Two: A 16 team head-to-head style tournament
Probably the most talked about playoff scenario right now is a 16 team head-to-head style tournament. This is an idea that has been discussed for a while now, and it would involve the top 16 teams in the league go to the postseason instead of the top eight in each conference.
Under this system, there isn’t currently an playoff team that would miss the postseason, though some matchups would be switched around. In this scenario, the Grizzlies as the 14th seed would have a first round matchup against the third seed Toronto Raptors.
A Raptors/Grizzlies matchup in the first round would be an interesting one. The history is there with Memphis previously having played out of Canada, and there’s also the interesting storyline of Marc Gasol going up against Jonas Valanciunas; two players who the Raptors and Grizzlies traded each other for last season.
The Raptors and Grizzlies hadn’t played any of their regular season series games against each other, with the two teams having a back-to-back series scheduled for late March, and if a shortened regular season sees their series get cancelled, a playoff matchup between the two would make for really good television.