Report: NBA tweaks standings, will clarify roster rules

ESPN reported Saturday that the league will use win percentage -- rather than
a measure of games relative to .500 -- to set the order of the standings, a
clarification that is necessary because teams have played a different number
of games thus far.

Before the season paused in March, NBA teams had played anywhere from 63 to 67
games. The 22 teams returning in Orlando will each play eight "regular season"
games for seeding, maintaining the disparity in total games and thus making
win percentage the first tiebreaker.

The Western Conference currently has the Portland Trail Blazers (29-37), New
Orleans Pelicans (28-36) and Sacramento Kings (28-36) at 3 1/2 games behind
the Memphis Grizzlies (32-33) for the eighth and final playoff spot, but the
Blazers' win percentage (.439) gives them a narrow advantage over the Pelicans
and Kings (.438). Similar situations could emerge for seeding in either
conference.

The league's restart plan features 13 teams from the West and nine from the
East, with the possibility of play-in series for the final playoff spot in
each conference. Memphis (currently eighth in the West) and the Orlando Magic
(eighth in the East) must finish at least four games ahead of the ninth-place
team in their conference to avoid a play-in series.

If ties within winning percentage exist, they will be broken by the league's
standard tiebreakers, ESPN reported, starting with head-to-head record from
the regular-season.

Meanwhile, ESPN also reported Saturday that the NBA is preparing rules for how
teams can add players to their roster in the event of injury or a player
testing positive for COVID-19. Per the report, teams will likely be allowed to
sign as many players as they desire, but only from a particular pool,
primarily players who played in the NBA or G League or were on training camp
contracts this season.

That would rule out any veterans who have gone unsigned all year, such as
guard Jamal Crawford, and any international players. The status of players on
two-way contracts remains unclear.

According to ESPN, the league and players union must agree collectively on
such regulations, with negotiations expected next week.

For any player who tests positive for COVID-19, a quarantine period of at
least a week and up to two weeks is expected. All players and staff are
expected to be tested every night at the enclosed campus.

A number of other details, including the schedule for the eight "seeding
games," have yet to be determined.

--Field Level Media