a more compelling product in the dog days of the NBA season. a reason to stay engaged for teams that are normally out of the playoff hunt. more revenue for the league --> more $ for the players --> increased capspace --> healthier league financially
Exactly. a single elimination tourney as part of the existing regular season would also curb tanking to an extent. do you think teams would roll out dogshit lineups like we did during this 10 or whatever game stretch if we were provided incentives not to? (extra ping pong balls, cash, or something...)
They will once it's known that Lillard has an incentive clause in his new extension that if the Blazers win the mid-season he gets an extra $10 mill a year.
So how does this affect the "rest" that players usually get during that week? How long of a break does this require? I am not seeing one argument that excites me as a fan. And I will bet that the players will hate it even more.
Players resting excites you? This tournament will break up the monotony of games 40-60 in every season. Especially for tanking teams, this is an incentive to stop putting out inferior products. Not sure why people are always so resistant to change.
No, players resting does not excite me. I don't like the all-star break at all. The players seem to look forward to the week off though. I just don't think many will value the accomplishment of winning an in-season tournament. If Portland won, I would not care in the slightest. I just think with all the injuries every year, teams in the hunt for the real championship will not risk playing their top players. Which will make this tournament useless. I do admit though, at this point I know nothing about how it will work. But my initial reaction is the players will not be thrilled with it.
The mid season tourney games would count as regular season win losses too. So your arguments against already are more relevant to 82 games.
Maybe we can have our own Cascadia cup. And since there are no Seattle and Vancouver teams we'd win it every year!
I love all these ideas. Play in is great. Hell I'd do a preseason divisional tourney to open the season too.
I don't care about the all-star game, and I can't imagine caring about a mid-season tournament. It seems like another "here's content... consume it" situation. I could not care less.
I think this is a fair point, I would hope the NBA would decrease the amount of regular season games equal to the amount of games they have within the tourney. I think it's a fun idea, but 82 game seasons are already too much both from a fan fatigue standpoint and more importantly from a player injury perspective. Having a tourney, especially with strong incentives like some have already suggested, would add a new twist to the NBA that I think is fun and fresh.
