Due to the NBA's current two-conference system, which takes eight teams each from the Eastern and Western Conferences, fans still won't get to see the best 16 teams battling it out in the playoffs, but the NBA's Competition Committee's most recent move is a step in the right direction toward rewarding regular season performers as division winners will no longer get preferential treatment with an automatic top-four seed in the playoffs.

"The NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved changes to playoff seeding and qualification procedures effective with the 2015-16 season," the league announced Tuesday.

"As part of the modifications, the eight playoff teams in each conference will be seeded in order of their regular-season record. Most recently, every division winner was guaranteed a top four seed in its respective conference regardless of its record but did not receive home-court advantage if its playoff opponent had a better record."

"The Board also approved changes to tiebreak criteria for playoff seeding and home-court advantage. Head-to-head results have become the first criterion to break ties for playoff seeding and home-court advantage between two teams with identical regular-season records; the second criterion is whether a team won its division. Under the old tiebreak system, a division winner was awarded the higher seed and received home-court advantage in a series if the two teams met in the playoffs."

While pundits have long preferred to have the best 16 teams in the postseason regardless of conference, the move appears to bode well for teams with better records.

Last season, the San Antonio Spurs won 55 games, but with the old rules, had to be relegated to the sixth seed despite having a better record than the 51-win Portland Trail Blazers, which won the Northwest Division. The Spurs faced the higher seeded Los Angeles Clippers, losing on the road in Game 7 of the first round, while the Blazers faced the Memphis Grizzlies, who also had 55 wins.