I know some divisions are more stacked than others but right now the NBA divisions are completely pointless and meaningless. Even when you go to the NBA website and look at the standings, the default view is by Conference.

Right now, the NBA Cup groups are decided based on last season records but if they just go by Division every year, it could intensify the divisional rivalries between teams like in the NFL.

So we would have 3 division in the East and West and the top team from each division moves onto the NBA Cup playoffs and the 4th team is a wildcard team from any division who has the next best record.

Valsorim3212

70 | 12 hours ago

Go check out MPJ’s old snapchat post and text Adam Silver this idea, I approve

moby323 | 76ers

11 | 12 hours ago

Jeez are you never gonna let him live that down?!

GroboDubbins | Trail Blazers

7 | 12 hours ago

Live what down

moby323 | 76ers

6 | 11 hours ago

MPJ said he accidentally put the NBA commissioner’s cell number into a Snapchat

moby323 | 76ers

16 | 12 hours ago

Umm I think you may be overestimating how much in depth people get with the cup.

I’m actually a fan of the cup and think it’s a good idea but even me, who watch A LOT of basketball, just know when it’s a cup game because of the court and I don’t really get further into it than that

Past-Ad7339 | Mavericks

2 | 2 hours ago

the cup isnt meant to be impactful immediately, imo its something that gains traction with years and years of tournament winners and matchups an iconic one like okc spurs will stick in peoples heads for a little bit
i think making it a divisional thing would enhance this feeling of having marquee matchups midseason to have right before christmas where the regular season gets slow

I_Set_3_Alarms | Celtics

1 | 11 minutes ago

Yeah I pretty much only care about the cup in the sense of I want my team to win a regular season game.

Then if they got into the final 4 I’d either be in on wanting them to win it all, or I’d be rooting for them to lowkey lose the semi-final so they don’t have to play an 83rd game and risk injuries lol

CuriousTurtle5 | Bucks

13 | 11 hours ago

I go completely the other way. Total random draws regardless of conference. If they really want the NBA Cup to be different, they should break free of East vs West like the Finals.

Edit: You could seed the division leaders for the draws so they’re in separate groups, but everyone else is random.

Wallshington | Supersonics

3 | 9 hours ago

I like what OP is saying but I also like what you’re saying in terms of the NBA cup should be different. I think the top teams get to take turns picking who they want in their division. This will add some crazy shit to it lol.

not-a-potato-head | Hawks

1 | an hour ago

Fuck it, have each division winner draft who’s in their group next year live on TV

username_notavail

1 | 3 hours ago

I wonder if they actually just put their worst tv draws in the cup that gets promoted as an event. Then their prime time tv deals get the good games.

S_AME | Heat

10 | 12 hours ago

That’s just unfair if 3-4 teams in one division have the better record overall than the winner in another division. It’s gonna be an East-West conferences issue all over again.

Valsorim3212

16 | 11 hours ago

Does the NBA Cup prize even matter enough for that kind of unfairness to matter though? To OP’s point, having divisional groupings likely would help build rivalries which helps boost ratings, which benefits everyone in the league

delta-red-14

15 | 11 hours ago

Okay but also it’s the NBA Cup so who cares if the groups aren’t always balanced. It’s not like they are currently anyways.

Uncle_Freddy | SAS

10 | 10 hours ago

Group C in the West had Denver, Houston, San Antonio, Golden State and Portland this year, that shit was unfair even with the NBA’s attempted balancing rules

Icemageslut

6 | 10 hours ago

It’s one game elimination, who cares win your division, works for the nfl

Kiriegloom | Bulls

9 | 12 hours ago

Alternatively, they can just get rid of divisions entirely. Makes no sense why they should let worse teams compete over better teams

moby323 | 76ers

5 | 12 hours ago

I think they have to have groups to make the format work so it has to be some structure or it can’t be a tournament

Dry_Bar_4965 | Lakers

5 | 12 hours ago

Look at the NFL, the 8-9 Panthers made the playoffs over the 9-8 Lions/Vikings

GotMoFans | Grizzlies

1 | 4 hours ago

Divisions are a means to have some control over travel costs and cultivate regional rivalries. Guaranteeing a playoff slot to a division champion encourages effort to win the division.

Alexcox95 | Heat

1 | 4 hours ago

As long as LeBron and Steph are on their respective teams they won’t get rid of divisions because 4 matchups a year makes the networks too much money

gochugang78

4 | 12 hours ago

Hard agree.

Add Seattle & Vegas.

4 team round robin (3 games)

Best 2 teams go thru to a 16 team bracket (1-4 extra games)

Shift it to a Jan-Feb tournament & have the finals held on all star weekend Friday at the all star host city.

Best part - reduces travel during the worst weather of the year

OnlyLittleFly | Slovenia

2 | 10 hours ago

Also reduce regular season from 82 to 70 and you have a better product

Aromatic_Goal_1201 | Nuggets

4 | 12 hours ago

Make nba cup double elimination or single elimination

sneakyfujita

3 | 11 hours ago

This is a great, logical idea! It would give the league something it lacks with heated, localised rivalries. However, I would go a step further and simplify by reducing the number of divisions to 4.

Also, on top of this, I think the league should go into division-only play for a section of the schedule to run the NBA Cup, so for example, during early December the teams shift into only playing within their division to determine who will represent them in the Cup semifinals.

HokageEzio | Knicks

2 | 12 hours ago

I agree. Somebody from the NBA did an AMA here a few years ago. They looked at it but thought the current system would be more fair and that fans would be interested in the reveals of the groups in the summer.

tickub | NYK

3 | 8 hours ago

well we just won the damned thing and i already forgot who was in our group

air_volek007 | Kings

1 | 12 hours ago

Just get rid of divisions make it East and West and have a balanced schedule where everyone plays everyone in their conference the same number of times.

I can see this happening when LV and SEA come into the league

abesach | IND

1 | 10 hours ago

I think they have to get rid of East/West and invite 2 more teams from another league. I think those 2 invited teams can play games in cities like Vegas, Seattle, Newark NJ, Pittsburgh, etc. You’re only placed in a group of 4 for your 3 matchups. The top 8 records are decided by wins then point differential and the other tie breakers they have currently. Then continue with the tournament as is currently designed.

bemmyd | Pistons

1 | 9 hours ago

I think it would be a more meaningful tournament if it actually followed the structure of the euro soccer tournaments it’s modeled after.

Reg season should be everyone playing each other 2-3 times (premiere league has 20 teams. 38 match days) and the FA Cup is a straight up tournament. Split the season and the tournament meaningfully.

You could still have playoffs to determine to nba champ but free up more games for the actual tournament. Ranking go from the previous season. Makes two actual competitions

Team_Ed | Raptors

1 | 4 hours ago

It should be like the Premier League. Play everyone twice, once in the first half of the season, once in the second half.

Add in (more) cup games on top of that, to get up to around 72 games.

Alexcox95 | Heat

1 | 4 hours ago

But then the Lakers wouldn’t have the easiest group and we can’t have that

Knowledge_Haver_17

1 | 41 minutes ago

I’ve got a better idea: just get rid of the nba cup

Diqt | Toronto Huskies

0 | 9 hours ago

For a second there I was trying to remember if the Cup had taken place yet

BookkeeperBetter7612

-2 | 11 hours ago

Nba cup is pointless. just make a tournament with nonplayoff teams to decide draft seeding + cash

Flobending | Kings

3 | 8 hours ago

Play hard so we can draft your replacement

The NBA Cup groups should just go by divisions to make them more meaningful.