After the success of the NBA In-Season Tournament, the league is reportedly considering adding playoff offshoots to the event.
According to Shams Charania from The Athletic and Stadium, the NBA Board of Governors discussed a proposal to use the round a team advances to the NBA Cup as the first playoff tiebreaker. The league is polling general managers to see if they want to keep the head-to-head results as the first tiebreaker or move on to the NBA Cup Finals.
Charania added that general managers will choose from three options: the NBA Cup as the first tiebreaker in the playoffs, the NBA Cup as the second tiebreaker after head-to-head results, and the third in ties involving more than two teams, and advancement to the NBA Cup as the first tiebreaker and subsequent advancement as third or fourth.
The Los Angeles Lakers became the league’s first NBA Cup champions after defeating the Indiana Pacers in the in-season tournament championship in December. The Lakers placed eighth in the Western Conference with a 47-35 record and will need to advance through the play-in tournament if they want to make the playoffs. The Pacers also finished 47-35, but that was good enough for the sixth seed in the East.
However, Indiana shared an identical record with the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers. If advancement in the in-season tournament was a tiebreaker for playoff seeding, the Pacers would have jumped the Magic for the No. 5 seed.
The NBA has looked for ways to improve competitiveness within the league, and both tournaments produced positive results in increasing player motivation. Adding another wrinkle to the NBA Cup would provide more incentive for players to put in a lot of effort during the in-season tournament.
