European teams could be included in NBA's In-Season Tournament / News - Basketnews.com

After the initial stage of the in-season tournament, six winners and two wild cards remain to compete in a single-elimination tournament. It is possible the NBA might include G-League or international teams as the wild cards.

Credit: Valencia Basket/Miguel Angel Polo; AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill - Scanpix; Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic Credit Valencia Basket/Miguel Angel Polo; AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill - Scanpix; Partizan Mozzart Bet/Dragana Stjepanovic

With the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), an In-Season Tournament will take place in the 2023-24 NBA season. With the project not likely to be canceled after the initial year, it may include some exciting possibilities for European basketball fans.

Per Ben Rohrbach from Yahoo Sports, the in-season tournament will feature several phases. First, all 30 teams will be divided into 6 groups of 5 teams each. Each of the five teams will then play four games - two at home and two away - to determine the winner of the intraconference pool.

The winners of each of the six pools and two wild card teams will participate in an 8-team single-elimination tournament. The tie-breakers to determine the two wild cards are still being discussed, Rohrback notes.

The journalist writes that this exact situation could bring a variety of possibilities looking into the future. The league may include G-League teams or international clubs in the tournament, most likely as the wild cards.

"I think it's a matter of creating the best competition possible. Part of the problem is our season cycle against the EuroLeague. We've talked about an in-season tournament to create additional excitement throughout the year. It may be that at some point if there is a midseason tournament, teams from outside the NBA will be included," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has told Toni Canyameras from Mundo Deportivo.

If teams were to be selected from Europe, a choice would have to be made whether to select clubs from the Basketball Champions League controlled by FIBA or the EuroLeague. Although BCL teams might have an easier way of adjusting their schedules to fly to the US, EuroLeague's teams would offer a much higher level of competition for the NBA teams.

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