Basketball is the second-most popular sport in the country, according to statistics, but it has a problems with its playoffs and their draft system, both of which need to change.

Currently the eight best teams from each conference, East and West, make the playoffs. The one seed, or the team with the best record, plays the eight seed, or the team with the worst record to make the playoffs from that conference. The two seed plays the seven seed. And so on.

There are occasional cases in which a team with a worse record ends up being a higher seed than a team with a better record. This occurs because a team has finished atop their division, so they get the higher playoff seed. There are three divisions in each conference, and the division champions will be at the top of the conference.

In the 2014-’15 season, for example, the Portland Trail Blazers finished at 51-31 and won their division. Both the Memphis Grizzlies and San Antonio Spurs finished better, 55-27, but neither won its division. It is absolutely outrageous that a team with a worse record gets a higher seed than a team that has won more games.

What I propose is to do away with divisions and conferences as a whole, and just have the teams in the league play everybody the same number of times.

Some might argue with me because they want their rivalries to stay. However, rivalries in basketball are unlike other rivalries. They are formed freshly in the playoffs, as opposed to dating back many years. An example of this is when the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors were matched up in the playoffs. The recent hatred of each for the other team has stemmed from that series, and it will be interesting to see if this rivalry can take off and stay consistent in future years.

There are never marquee rivalry games when the best teams play each other. There isn’t a rivalry week.

Last year, there were three teams in the Western Conference that would have made the playoffs in a conference-less system. The Oklahoma City Thunder, the Phoenix Suns, and the Utah Jazz all deserved to make the playoffs more than the last-seeded team in the Eastern Conference.

Additionally, I would give the best team that missed the playoffs the highest chance to win the lottery. The lottery is the current way of determining who gets the first pick in the draft. Right now, the worst team has the most ping pong balls in the pot, which gives them the best chance to land the number one pick.

The system in place basically incentivises teams to lose at the end of the year — or tank all year. If a team has an inexperienced roster, and they know they aren’t going to win many games, they could say, “We might as well toss in the towel and secure the number one pick. We’re not going to win anyway.”

My idea eliminates the possibility of that, and makes for a more competitive league. Teams should want to win at the conclusion of the regular season.

The NBA is great. Not perfect, but great. There are blatant issues staring the league straight in the face, however, and it’s time to face them and do something. Commissioner Adam Silver needs to use his power and enforce these changes.