NBA Proposes In-Season Tournament, Other League Changes

The NBA has sent a proposal to teams calling for a 78-game regular season, along with an in-season tournament for all teams, coming with a purse of $15 million for the prize, and a reseeding of the playoffs when the field comes down to the final four.

Each player of the winning in-season tournament team would be given $1 million prize and the coaching staff would split $1.5 million.

The tournament would involve all 30 teams and would run from late November to mid-December. It would begin with pool-play based on divisions that would be treated as regular-season games, with four home and four away games for each team. Eight teams would advance to the quarterfinals, revealing six winners and two wild card spots. The quarterfinals would take place at home venues, however, the semifinals and finals would be held at neutral ones.

Of course with this some issues arise. Undrafted rookies and veterans who may not be able to make the minimum or the Mid-Level Exception would likely go to teams who contend for the tournament with the hopes of supplementing their salaries.

Teams who are actively pursuing the championship could prefer to miss the quarterfinals and take the extra time off, incentivizing some degree of tanking. This risks causing disension in locker rooms between those who don’t care about the tournament and those who seek the extra money.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has taken notes from such events seen in European soccer. “It would be negotiated with the Player Association. I’ve had very general discussions with [union executive director] Michele Roberts about the notion that these are the kinds of things we’re looking at”, Silver said.

Roughly 60 percent of NBA fans want a shorter schedule, 68 percent of fans said they are interested in an in-season tournament, and 75 percent were interested in a play-in tournament being used to decide the playoff field.