Haliburton said the winner should get a guaranteed playoff spot, which is a nice idea for incentive but probably wouldn’t work because the teams that won could just half-ass it the rest of the season.

I have a couple non-in depth incentives in mind, in addition to the cash prizes.

  1. If the winner of the in-season tournament makes the playoffs, they get to choose their first round opponent. Would create lots of drama and storylines, while also increasing viewership.

If the winner of the in-season tournament doesn’t make the playoffs, they get increased lottery odds. Still a very good incentive for bad or young teams.

  1. The team who wins gets an extra first round pick. Probably a lesser incentive compared to the first one, but still something teams would want.

What incentives would you guys add if the in-season tournament is permanent?

  • GeoffSprokeB
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    1 year ago

    The winner of the tournament automatically gets home court advantage for all their playoff matchups.

  • Buffalo_BreadB
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    1 year ago

    Because the IST/NBA Cup happens at the beginning of the season, I feel like they should receive something from the In-Season Tournament (besides money) that benefits them for the season, and not just hypothetically if they make the playoffs.

    I came up with some silly ideas in another post, but realistically, maybe give them an extra timeout or challenge per game for the remainder of the season.

    • SoKrat3sB
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      1 year ago

      That’s a pretty good idea. It’s an incentive, but far from a game-breaking one.

  • Buffalo_BreadB
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    1 year ago

    Fuck it. If we’re going to incentivize teams, I want some unhinged, potentially game-breaking benefits.

    • The winning team gets an automatic 2 point lead to start every game for the remainder of the season.
    • The winning team can change 1 loss they received to a win at any point during the season.
    • The winning team gets the ability to use a “power play” every game, where for 5 minutes they get to put an extra player on the court for 6 on 5.
  • rattatatouilleB
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    1 year ago

    Playoff tiebreaker. It would be a significant incentive that doesn’t invalidate the rest of the regular season.

  • Apollo611B
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    1 year ago

    An extra regular season win if you finish in the top 6, or a guaranteed play-in spot of you finish 7-10.

  • GoldenBoyRecordsB
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    1 year ago

    I think they should make the first round of the NBA draft 31 picks and have the 31st pick go to the In-Season tournament winner. Giving the winner basically and extra pick to draft someone and sign to 4 years like any other 1st rounder would incentive every team even the really good teams who might be right against the cap or teams who might have traded away a 1st this would be a good incentive to recoup it.

  • JP200214B
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    1 year ago

    I think the winning team should automatically get a lottery pick.

  • I_Set_3_AlarmsB
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    1 year ago

    Winner of the tournament and whoever had the worst record in any of the groups play each other in their last games of the season

  • MacJonesIsOverratedB
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    1 year ago

    Tell NBA voters that the NBA Cup should be weighed heavily when voting on season end awards