The NBA's last and biggest hurdle is to find a way to finish the season that makes everybody happy, and it may be impossible

• The NBA is ramping up toward a return, but the format of the season is yet to be decided.
• Non-playoff teams don't want to go through the effort of quarantines and training camp to play a few meaningless games, then go home.
• Play-in tournaments and group stages are popular ideas, but some feel they are unfair to the best regular-season teams and risk becoming too gimmicky.
• Safety is a major factor, too, with the NBA's bubble in Disney World becoming tougher to control with more teams and people involved.
• There are several competing agendas within the NBA and no perfect solution that makes everyone happy.

As the NBA appears to grow closer to resuming the season, a significant hurdle remains: what will the format be?

The league is currently in negotiations with Walt Disney World about staging a single-site, "bubble"-style return. However, how many games, and which teams will be involved, is a source of debate across the league.

There are competing agendas around the league; ESPN's Zach Lowe said on his podcast that within some teams, there are competing agendas. While many of the ideas have benefits, there are also some downsides.

To date, several popular formats are being considered (and likely more within the league):

1. Bring back all 30 teams to play out some regular-season games. This could allow some teams to continue competing for the playoffs while others could fulfill local TV deals and make some money back. More games mean more money for everyone.
2. Go right to the playoffs with the current playoff standings. While there has been a call to reseed the playoffs 1-16, it seems more likely that the NBA would keep its current 1-8 conference structure.
3. Create a play-in tournament, allowing teams just outside the playoff bubble to compete for the playoffs. This is specifically a concern in the Western Conference, where four games separate the eighth-seeded Memphis Grizzlies and 12th-seeded San Antonio Spurs.
4. Use a World Cup-style group stage with 20 teams. Under this proposal, teams would be divided into five tiers. One team from each level would then be put into four groups. Teams would play their opponents in the group stage at least two times. The top two teams would advance to the playoffs for best-of-seven series.
5. Have the 16 playoff teams play some regular-season games to determine final playoff spots, get into a rhythm, then go into the playoffs (per The Athletic's John Hollinger's suggestion).

The more teams that return, the higher the risk

This should, first and foremost, be the NBA's concern.

Regardless of the money to be made with more games, bringing all 30 teams back, or even 24 or 20, means bringing hundreds of more people into the Disney World "bubble."

The New York Times' Marc Stein reported that teams would likely be allowed to have traveling parties of 35 people, including players, coaches, trainers, equipment staff, and more. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne reported that the league and players union are also working an agreement to bring limited family members to the bubble.

The risks of someone contracting COVID-19 multiplies with more people. If the NBA feels like the bubble would be in jeopardy by bringing more people back, then they should opt for fewer teams, regardless of the format.

Not everyone wants to come back

The path to returning is rigorous. Players who left their markets will need to return, then potentially quarantine for 14 days, participate in a three-week training camp, travel to Disney, and possibly quarantine again for 14 days.

In the process, there will likely be frequent temperature checks and (presumably) COVID-19 tests.

Are a few low-stakes games for non-playoff teams worth that? According to Lowe, some teams have expressed lukewarm feelings about returning, though not outright disinterest.

Most notably, Blazers guard Damian Lillard said he would not want to go through the efforts of returning if his ninth-place team is not competing for the playoffs.

"If we come back and they're just like, 'We're adding a few games to finish the regular season,' and they're throwing us out there for meaningless games and we don't have a true opportunity to get into the playoffs, I'm going to be with my team because I'm a part of the team. But I'm not going to be participating. I'm telling you that right now," Lillard told Yahoo's Chris Haynes.

Teams further outside the playoff race than Lillard would also likely have less desire to come back for only a few games that could jeopardize their lottery standings.

Teams on the playoff bubble deserve a chance to make the postseason

Lillard (and the New Orleans Pelicans' Zion Williamson) are why some want to include games beyond the regular season, whether that's through a group stage or some other play-in tournament.

Lillard and Williamson are huge stars that would help the league's ratings. Their teams were also just behind the eighth-place Grizzlies, who had the toughest remaining schedule in the regular season. They deserve shots to make the playoffs.

But where does the NBA draw the line? As mentioned, the Spurs are just four games back of a playoff spot. The Phoenix Suns are just two games back of the Spurs. Are six games too far out to warrant a place in some sort of play-in tournament?

The ninth-place Washington Wizards are 5.5 games back of the eighth-place Orlando Magic. Do they not warrant a chance to compete for the playoffs? The NBA, after all, battles the perception that teams would rather be in the lottery than make the bottom playoff seeds.

Some are concerned with de-emphasizing the regular season

The group stage and play-in tournaments have similar problems: it hurts teams who had the best seasons before the suspension.

Let's start with the group stage idea. According to The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, the 20 teams invited may be broken up into tiers, based on records. The top four teams would be in one tier, and so on. Groups would be made up of one team from each tier.

Presumably, the best teams would still advance, but nobody has played for over two months — upsets could happen. It would be a tough blow for teams like the Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers or Clippers, or Toronto Raptors to find themselves out of the playoffs because they lost a group stage. What if one of them drew the top teams in each of the other four tiers in the group stage?

The same could be argued about the play-in tournament. The Grizzlies had a better record than the Blazers, Pelicans, Sours, and Sacramento Kings through 80% of the season. Sure, they had the toughest remaining schedule, but what if they held their playoff spot? They could fall out of the playoffs if they lost a handful of games in the play-in tournament, a disappointing end to a feel-good season.

The NBA could weigh the tiers with a points-based system in the group stage to give the best teams an advantage, but it would begin to get gimmicky. Teams may resist throwing too many new concepts into the mix on top of everything else involved in the return to play.

Wojnarowski reported that the NBA's Board of Governors call on Friday is unlikely to involve any final decisions on the format. Still, it increasingly seems as if a decision is coming soon. Milwaukee Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry told CNBC's Jabari Young that he believes a decision will be made next week.

• Read more:
• 'The craziest year I've ever seen': The inside story of an NBA season derailed by controversy, a tragic death, and a pandemic
• James Harden explains how he's stayed in shape while the NBA season is suspended
• The Trump Administration has deemed professional athletes essential workers in the United States — here's what that means for the return of sports
• The Premier League is set to resume its season beginning on June 17 — here's what it will look like

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