The NBA has sent a proposal to teams for major changes beginning during the 2021-22 season, sources told The Athletic's Shams Charania.
The framework includes a 78-game regular season, an in-season tournament with prize money of $1 million for each player and a $1.5-million coaches pool for the champion, play-in tournaments for the No. 7 and No. 8 playoff seeds, and a reseeding of the final four teams in the playoffs based on regular-season records.
All 30 teams would be involved in the tournament from late November to early December, according to Charania. Teams would play eight games (four home and four away) in the group stage. Six divisional-stage winners would emerge, along with two wild cards for the knockout round. The semifinals and finals of the tournament would be played at a neutral site.
The NBA has been trying for some time to increase the importance of early-season games. Feedback from certain players to the tournament idea appears to be negative thus far, however, with James Harden comparing it to college basketball.
