20‑Team Premiere League

Make the NBA a 20‑team top tier with a 16‑team playoff and relegation of the bottom two clubs into an NBA‑2 second division. This removes the structural reward for being worst (and thus for tanking), concentrates talent, and creates a competitive ladder with promotion/relegation rather than perpetual bailouts for failing franchises. — Changing the league design would reshape city subsidy politics, broadcast rights valuations, player labor dynamics, and the cultural logic of American pro sports — a test case for whether U.S. institutions can adapt European promotion/relegation norms.