NBA is doing an in-season tournament in November/December... okay, then.
The league will hand out the NBA Cup for the first time on Dec. 9, christening the winner of the 30-team cup competition.
theathletic.com
"The league will hand out the NBA Cup for the first time on Dec. 9, christening the winner of the 30-team cup competition and handing out a tidy half-million dollars each to every player on the winning team.
The tournament will play out in two stages, first group play involving each franchise and then a knockout stage when the field trickles down to just eight teams. The group stage games will be held on Tuesdays and Fridays in November as the NBA divides teams into six different groups of five teams apiece split up by conference. The winners of each group, along with the second-place team with the best record in each conference, will move on. The quarterfinals games will be on Dec. 4 and 5 in a team’s home arena, before the semifinals on Dec. 7 and the final on Dec. 9 are held at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
To avoid teams resting star players during tournament games, the NBA will try to avoid scheduling games back to back, and certainly on the second night of them, though some may come on the front end. The NBA is also in talks with the NBPA to update its player resting policy, which will dovetail with the tournament but not be limited to it."