Sources: The NBA is considering a postseason play-in tournament for bubble teams

It’s becoming more clear by the day that the NBA is determined to close out the 2019-20 season and crown a champion, and now discussions are becoming more centered around the questions of “where, when and how” rather than “if”.

It’s looking more and more like the remainder of the season will play out in a controlled environment in Orlando, Florida, and according to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA and NBPA are currently working in the possibility of allowing limited family members to join the players where they would be housed, in this case at Walt Disney World Resort, and they would be subject to the same testing and safety protocols as everyone else.

The league is also looking into where it would pick up should the season resume. Team executives are reportedly skeptical on bringing all 30 teams back together, so other possibilities are also being discussed, including a play-in tournament to give teams that are on the fringe of the playoffs a chance to make it.

There is a playoffs-plus idea that includes 20 to 24 teams, with the NBA including more teams from the Western Conference than the Eastern Conference, sources said. The NBA is considering play-in possibilities with teams like New Orleans, Portland, San Antonio and Sacramento vying for the postseason, sources said.

This would definitely be an interesting approach. It would give teams a chance to make a run at the playoffs that they otherwise wouldn’t get should the league jump right into the postseason, and it would give the Spurs a better chance at keeping their streak alive than something like everyone just playing five more regular season games.

The Spurs (27-36) currently sit at 12th place in the Western Conference standings: three games in the loss column behind 8th seeded Grizzles but just 1 game behind the 9th seeded Trail Blazers.