One of the biggest changes that were made in the newest CBA is the addition of a mid-season tournament. After years of speculation, the change was made official when the CBA was agreed upon by owners and players.
The Oklahoma City Thunder — along with the other 29 teams — will get a chance to play in the inaugural tournament next season. The final four of the tournament are expected to take place in Las Vegas on Dec. 7 and Dec. 9, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojanorwski. The semifinal statistics will count towards the regular season; the championship round will not.
The league will divide its 30 teams into six pools of five teams. The pools will be composed of teams from the same conference, but not necessarily the same division.
On designated days in the first six weeks of the regular season, teams will play four group games that will also count as regular season games. All five pool teams will play against each other at least once in two road games and two home games.
The six pool winners and two wildcard teams will enter a single-game elimination tournament that will conclude in Las Vegas. Players on the winning team will earn $500,000 each.
Only 80 regular season games will be scheduled for all 30 NBA teams. The remaining 22 teams who do not advance to the knockout rounds will have two additional regular season games added to equal 82. The two championship-round teams will end the regular season with 83 games.
