Report: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to Propose 22-Team Return Plan

The NBA will vote on a 22-team return plan that commissioner Adam Silver will propose to league owners on Thursday, reports ESPN Adrian Wojnarowski.

Presumably, that means the Philadelphia Sixers will continue their season with a chance to move up the eastern conference standings.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the 22-team plan would allow teams within six games of the playoffs to participate at Disney World in Orlando with the Pelicans, Blazers, Suns, Kings, Spurs and Wizards joining the current 16 teams that are locked into the playoffs.

In the 22-team plan, there will be a eight game "regular season" slate, followed by a play-in tournament would lead into the regular 16-team playoff format, Wojnarowski reported.

The eight regular season games gives the Sixers an opportunity to make up some ground in the Eastern conference standings where they currently sit as the six seed.

The Sixers are currently tied with the Pacers at 39-26, but Indiana holds the tie-breaker over Philly.  Meanwhile, the Sixers are two games behind the Miami Heat for the four-seed and five games behind Boston for the third-seed.

ESPN reported that the NBA hopes to return by July 31 and was aiming for a potential Game 7 of the NBA finals to be played by Oct. 12.