3 questions about the new NBA Cup

Stakes in November and December aren't easy. This might briefly do the trick. Maybe.

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

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The NBA unveiled full details for the inaugural NBA Cup — that’s the name for the new in-season tournament — over the weekend. Some of the details were in the collective bargaining agreement released at the end of June, but the league also held the group stage draw.

The shortest possible way I can explain it is that all those groups are going to have some round robin play on four nights in November. On those nights (Tuesdays and Fridays) only NBA Cup group stage games will be played. That’s different from a “normal” Tuesday or Friday in November where you might have a cool match-up — Suns vs. Wizards in Bradley Beal’s triumphant return to D.C., or Heat vs. Celtics revenge match, or something.

The winner of each group and two wild cards in each conference will advance to a knock-out round on December 4 or 5, then the winners of that round will head to Las Vegas for the semis (December 7) and title game (December 9). Everyone who doesn’t make the semifinals will play against each other on December 6 and 8. So the dates with NBA Cup tournament games will be exclusively for NBA cup tournament games.

Everything counts for the regular season except the NBA Cup championship. There will be a tournament MVP and an all-tournament team. There is prize money.

As a fan of thoughtful but ultimately needless complexity, I’m looking forward to seeing how the NBA Cup unfolds. Here are the most important factors as to whether it’s a success:

Will fans travel to Vegas on relatively short notice in December? The quarterfinals will be in normal NBA arenas on December 4 and 5. The semis are December 7. How many fans are you going to pull from the Eastern Conference representatives? It probably depends on the team, but this is the piece that makes me most nervous. Even college fanatics during March Madness have more time and certainty around their travel, and that tournament is the culmination of the season, not a diversion. Having a good crowd is critical to making NBA basketball look great on television. This is the single biggest downside risk in having the final two rounds on a neutral court.