Adam Silver got his wish . Using the momentum of the unquestionably successful play-in tournament — and the successful Commissioners’ Cup in the WNBA — Silver got both the NBA owners and players (through the new CBA) to agree to the in-season NBA tournament he wanted.
The NBA in-season tournament begins in the fall, with the official announcement (in partnership with ESPN, who will broadcast the games) and more details coming on Saturday from Summer League in Las Vegas. Here is what we know so far:
• The final four teams in the tournament will come to Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and 9 for the final games, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
ESPN Sources: The NBA's new In-Season Tournament Final Four is set for December 7 and 9 in Las Vegas. Statistics will count for the league's regular season, except for the championship game of the event.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 5, 2023
• Teams will take part in group play first, with the final eight teams advancing to a tournament-style knockout phase. Teams will play four games (two home, two road) in this group-play stage, all in the first six weeks of the season.
• When the NBA releases the schedule for next season (traditionally in August), teams will have 80 games on their schedule. Teams that do not advance out of group play will get two games added to the schedule at a later date to get to a full 82, and teams that lose in the quarter-finals of the knockout stage will get one game added so they get to 82.
Championship game also won't count toward won-loss records for teams. Everything else will.
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) July 5, 2023
Current plan is for teams to get an 80-game schedule for 2023-24 in the next few weeks, with two more games added in-season (for the full 82) depending on how they do in the tournament. https://t.co/RYizp7VEJW
• The teams that reach the tournament finals will play in 83 games, but that final game will not count toward regular season statistics or standings.
• What will the groups look like? According to the CBA, there will be six groups of five teams each (all within the same conference), with teams placed in the group based on the final standings of last season. Each group will have one of the top three seeds from the previous season, one from seeds four through six, one that finished between seventh and ninth, and one that finished 10-12, and one that finished 13-15. A random drawing will determine which team goes in which group.
• The six group winners plus two wild card teams will advance to the knockout stage and final eight.
• The players on the winning team will receive $500,000 each. (There are some questions about how two-way players or injured guys may get paid, but that will be worked out.)
• Will the teams care? Will the players care? Good question. In a conversation with a fellow soccer fan recently, he compared it to some of the smaller cups (tournaments) that teams in England or other European countries can win. In the case of England, the powerhouse Premier League clubs — Manchester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, etc. — care about the Champions League and the FA Cup, but when it gets to the smaller ones such as the Carabao Cup it’s the smaller clubs that are not chasing bigger fish who care the most. Will that repeat itself in the NBA? Going into next season, will Denver or Boston strive to win the in-season tournament, or will guys get load managed? Will it be different for a team such as Sacramento that just broke its playoff drought and the fans may be excited to get a win in this tournament?
• Will the fans care? In the middle of football season? This is the big question and one we probably can’t answer for a few years. The hope of Silver and the tournament backers is just that, to get casual fans who are much more focused on how the Dolphin’s quarterback is playing to care about how the Heat are doing in this NBA tournament. The idea that casual fans don’t care about the NBA until Christmas has some validity, this is an effort to change that dynamic. Whether it works or not is another question.
