The Lakers Should Be Playing Memphis

In this post, Professor Stuart Benjamin of Duke, proposes that the NBA should allow the higher seeds to select from the lower seeds their opponent in the next round of playoffs. Kind of like a NBA draft - without the element of luck - selection of playoff opponent. First, he argues that it would truly reward the teams with the better records. I agree, after last night's game against Houston, wouldn't you think the Lakers would have rather gone up against either Memphis or even perhaps Dallas - this is assuming that Minnesota would have likely picked the weakest of the playoff teams, the Denver Nuggets - where Shaq could more easily dominate helping the Lakers' goal of moving on to the second round? That leads to Prof. Bejamin's second argument that it would likely lead to better matchups with the better teams meeting deeper into the playoffs. Of course, this assumes that the higher seeded teams do in fact choose teams in the early rounds that they will defeat, which is not a given. Finally, he argues that it would create greater fan interest.

Fans of the choosing teams can debate who their team should opt to play in a given round of the playoffs. And it would create a new element for the chosen teams and their fans. If the 1st seed decided to play the 7th seed rather than the 8th, the 7th could use the choice as a motivating tool (“They chose to play us because they thought we were weak. Let’s show them.”) and the 8th seed could boast that the best team was afraid to play them. And if the 8th seed met the 1st seed later in the playoffs, the story line would be irresistible (“The 1st seed must now play the team it sought to avoid.”)

That itself would make the change worthwhile. Thoughts anyone?