Would You Like To See A European-Style Cup In The NBA?

The NBA, and most American sports, differ from much of the rest of the world in that they have one trophy to play for all year and there is no promotion/relegation battles to get excited about either. Far be it from me to try and tinker with an already fantastic system, but what if there was some sort of tournament for lesser teams to play in and get excited about?

Hey, everybody likes winning and lifting trophies, right?

Players like Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker and even the likes of Rajon Rondo and Kevin Love (in his current situation) all have something in common. Realistically, they all won’t challenge for an NBA crown for at least the next three to five years, and that is being kind to a lot of players who fall into the category of not playing for a contender.

Now, in sports such as soccer, domestic leagues across Europe have league competitions, but also cups as well. This gives everybody a chance of winning these trophies because it is a knockout style tournament, in a similar vein to the NCAA basketball tournament.

Even basketball teams in Europe play in their own domestic leagues, and also the more illustrious Euroleague as well. Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “let those silly Europeans do what we want while we play our national sports our own way” but just stay with me for a second.

What if the NBA introduced a second tournament of sorts, with the 14 teams who failed to make the playoffs competing for a trophy themselves. Sure, it’s kind of like a best of the worst contest, but it is something.

It would also not impact on the NBA draft in any way. There are two ways this kind of thing can be approached.

Firstly, the 14 teams who don’t make the playoffs, enter this tournament the next season. It’s 14 teams, unseeded straight knockout basketball, with a draw to decide who plays who, and who is home and away.

Seven teams advance and the team who lost with the best regular season record from the year before is allowed back in. The eight remaining teams then battle it out from there. The games are dotted through the regular season.

Sure it’s an additional few games, but it would add to the excitement of what can be a long regular season.

If a team who is in this competition is actually doing quite well in the standings, they can absolutely send out a reserve team to compete so as to keep their best players fresh for an assault on the playoffs. Remember, this isn’t meant to take away from the great system already in place, merely give poor teams something to play for.

Then, the final could take place at All-Star weekend, perhaps on the Friday?

Alternatively, you could have the 14 teams who didn’t make the playoffs have their own postseason in conjunction with the real playoffs. There wouldn’t be seven-game series, again just straight knockout basketball, one game with the winner advancing.

This could be done quickly so that the second tournament is over before the conference finals of the actual playoffs even begin, so as not to create unnecessary distraction from them.

If you think this is a silly idea, quickly imagine this scenario.

Imagine you’re Jabari Parker. Very admirable on his part to state his desire to play for the small-market Milwaukee Bucks. But over the course of the next four years, they are likely to never make the playoffs.

At best they could sneak into the postseason, before getting bounced in the first round.

All that losing can wear a player down, and make them want to jump ship to a better organization. But if this second tournament existed, the Bucks top brass could call Parker in, and tell them they’d really like to win this second tournament, which would keep him engaged and motivated.

Seeing a young team, or even just a decent team that didn’t make the playoffs, win something and strive to get better may also make free agents think about joining these up and coming teams.

OK, so winning a second tier title isn’t going to entice the likes of Damian Lillard or Kevin Durant to think about joining them, but even veteran players who need a team to land on may like what they see.

Also, this postseason we did not get to see the talents of the likes of Anthony Davis, Kevin Love and DeMarcus Cousins. If this cup competition existed, seeing them go at it in a winner-takes-all game would be great to watch, giving these players and their teams some additional exposure too.

Coming at it from a different angle, imagine if Kobe Bryant had been fit and the Lakers still didn’t make the playoffs this year. Given his competitive nature you can bet he would have gone all out to win this cup competition his team would have been eligible for.

As for the name of the tournament or trophy, that would be up for the league to decide, but isn’t it something worth considering? Again, American sports and leagues work great the way they are, but one of the great things about the NBA in particular is that it is not afraid to try new things.

This would certainly be new and radical in itself. Besides, it would be cool for an organization that doesn’t have much to cheer about all that often to at least be able to say they won something during the season.

So what do you think? A good idea, or tampering where there is no need to? Any thoughts you have on the matter, good or bad, can be put down in the comments section below.