Well, it’s official. The NBA In-Season Tournament details, dates, and format were released this weekend and we now know what it will consist of.
The first-ever “NBA Cup” tips off on November 3rd. It will include all 30 teams divided into six groups. Those groups will consist of five teams each. Three groups will consist of Eastern Conference teams and three groups will consist of Western Conference teams. Teams will play through their group, then the teams with the best record from each group will advance to the Knockout Round along with one Wild Card team from each conference. The Wild Card team will be whoever has the next-best record in each conference after the three group winners. Tournament games will be played every Tuesday and Friday night in November. The only NBA games played on Tournament nights will be Group Play games.
The eight teams that advance to the Knockout Round will play their quarterfinal games on either December 4th or 5th. The teams that advance to the semifinals will head to Vegas where the NBA will hold the semifinal rounds on December 7th and the championship round on December 9th. Games played in the first and second rounds of the Knockout Rounds (Quarterfinals and Semifinals) will count as Regular Season games for all purposes. The Championship will not be counted as a Regular Season game.
The NBA also established a prize pool for the NBA Cup. Players on teams that advance through Group Play will be financially rewarded:
- Players on a team that wins the championship receive $500,000
- Players on a team that loses in the championship receive $200,000
- Players on a team that loses in the semifinals receive $100,000
- Players on a team that loses in the quarterfinals receive $50,000
NBA In-Season Tournament Groups
- East Group A: Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons
- East Group B: Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets
- East Group C: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic
- West Group A: Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers
- West Group B: Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets
- West Group C: Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs
Overall NBA In-Season Tournament Thoughts
It’s a little hard for me to get too excited about this one given how new it is, but Group Play games being counted as regular season games is something I’m a fan of. Otherwise, I think we’d have seen a lot of group play games be used as opportunities for load management around the league. Time will tell if the In-Season tournament will catch on. Adam Silver has been dead set on making this happen for the last 4-5 years, and now we’ll see his vision in action.
For what it’s worth, I do think the Bulls have a pretty decent draw here. Looking at that group, they should be the second-best team in East Group C after Boston. And hey, if the Bulls somehow make it out of the group and get themselves into the Knockout Round I’ll probably find myself back buying into them and convincing myself they can make a playoff run.