It seems to me that the arguement is that the playoffs take too long and seems geared towards the teams that make the playoffs, which is completely understandable and unfortunately part of the 'playoff experience'

One thought I have on this would be to have a losers bracket for the teams that do not make the playoffs, but it also needs to have an actual reward rather than just going through the motions for teams that didn't make the playoffs.

Why not a reward for extra draft balls based on your performance in the losers bracket. Not a dramatic amount, maybe 5 extra balls for winning the losers bracket. Not enough to kill the draft but enough that you might move up a slot or 2 with a little luck.

Just throwing an idea out there.