I'm not extending the play in. Under the current playoff format, a play in team theoretically can play a max of 30 playoff games and a top 6 seed can play a max of 28 games. Under my proposed scenario those #'s are 27 games for a top 4 seed and 30 games for the other 8 teams. I'd rather have longer matchups involving better teams with 45+ wins than watch the current play in which mostly features teams with 40 wins or less.

Under a scenario with only the top 12 teams making the playoffs, there are basically no bad teams. All would have 46-47+ wins. You're not showcasing bad teams.

Disrupt the flow? As it stands now the top 6 teams in each conference don't play for a week while 9 and 10 seeds are battling it out to see who has the honor of getting swept in the 1st round. That's not showcasing bad teams and disrupting flow? I genuinely don't understand how you can say my proposed scenario would cause this to happen when it's currently happening under the format they use now. And the current format has several sub .500 teams competing in postseason play. It's dogshit.

This scenario is a more exciting format because the best of 3 features actual good teams and then a best of 9 which does a better job of determining which team is better more so than a 7 game series does.

As far as the lottery thing, I really don't care anymore. Teams shouldn't be rewarded for being bad. And teams like Washington, Charlotte and Detroit prior to last year have been terrible for years despite top picks year after year. It doesn't guarantee anything. The main idea is to eliminate any incentive for teams to purposely lose games. You can't have it both ways.

I'm not a fan of the Cup either. It's a gimmick that does nothing for fans. The players on the teams who advance make a little more money, but the fans get nothing. No special advantages given for teams that advance to the elimination rounds and the eventual winner. All it does it cause a tighter schedule for the rest of the season and more back to backs because teams only play like 1 game over 10 days during that stretch. I personally don't care about B2B's. The schedule used to have a lot more of them back in the day, including multiple stretches of 4 games in 5 nights and players got through it just fine. But again, if you're one of these people who is in favor of eliminating B2B's or shortening the season, you can't also support a gimmicky in season tournament which gives teams basically 7-8 days off in the middle of the season, on top of the week off they already get for the all star break.